Spring Break
Ramadan - A Month of Fasting, Charity and Community
Ali Hashmi (NF), Umair Khan (NH), Contributing Writers
Issue date: 9/22/08 Section: News
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The sun finally set in the skies. It was 7:00 p.m. EC Danish Yusuf stood in front of more than 100 HBS colleagues gathered in One Western Common Room, turned his head toward Mecca and gave the athan - the Muslim call to prayer. Everyone gathered close as Islamic Society Co-Presidents, Marwan Chaar and Sumaiya Balbale, passed around Medjool dates, often referred to as the crown jewel of dates. "This is how Muslims around the world traditionally break their fasts, so please join us as we break ours here tonight," said Sumaiya, as everyone in the room proceeded to "break their fasts," as they joined the Muslim community for the annual iftaar (fast-breaking) event held on Tuesday, September 9th. The Islamic Society hosts the event each year, both to celebrate Ramadan with our friends and family, but also to share with the HBS community the virtues of this "month of fasting," the most holy month of the Islamic Calendar.
During Ramadan - the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar - all healthy Muslims fast from dawn until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. Ramadan's significance stems from the fact that it was during this holy month that the Qur'anic revelation first commenced, as related by the excerpt: "It was in the month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was (first) bestowed from on high as a guidance, and as a standard by which to discern the true from the false. Hence, whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it…" (Qur'an 2:185).
The principal purpose of Ramadan is spiritual self-purification. "O you who have attained to faith, fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God," (Qur'an 2:183). The aforementioned verse highlights the act of fasting as a link that binds together various faith-based communities, for indeed, fasting is as much a part of Jewish, Christian and Hindu traditions, as it is of the Muslim tradition. Yet, while the form of this act may differ, the substance is the same: by abstaining from worldly comforts, a fasting person gains an experiential empathy for those who do not have access to food and drink whenever they desire. In addition, a measure of ascendancy is given to one's spiritual nature which becomes a means of coming closer to God.
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