Mallam Hadi Onimisi Tijani, a penultimate law student of Bayero University, Kano has on Monday, 2nd of April shone light on the benefits of Ramadan while noting the dos and don’ts.
Mallam Tijani, who is also the Academic Director of the National Association of Muslim Law Students, BUK, and Director of Research and Litigation, BUK Tax Club in an interview with Daily News 24 in his recent article -Ramadan- What you should know”, has extensively explained the benefits associated with fasting in the month of Ramadan.
He started by explaining that As-sawm in Arabic parlance simply means “to abstain”.
“Technically, it is used to denote fasting. That is to abstain from food and drink, anything and everything that vitiates the fast for a specified period of time. Where abstinence or fasting is observed in the month of Ramadan, then it is known as Sawm-ur-Ramadan”
“Fasting in the month of Ramadan is observed by Muslims all over the world” – He explained. He gave reason for this by citing the evidence from the Holy Qur’an:
“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous”
- Suratul Baqara Qur’an2, verse 183.
According to him, The holy month has its rules (Dos and don’ts). The dos include:
Regular Recitation of the Glorious Qur’an and Increase in Righteous Deeds(Any good act done in Ramadan is highly rewarding).
However, there are don’ts that include abstaining from: All acts that vitiate your fasting, all acts of time-wasting, and all vices( like telling lies, stealing or backbiting).
The benefits of fasting are numerous, however, it can be categorized under religious, economic and social benefits.
He explained; “Fasting, as a virtue, has a lot of significance to all aspects of one’s life, Religiously, economically and socially.
Religiously, fasting is one of the pillars of Islam, it increases the worshipper in the obedience of his Lord and draws him nearer to Him. During the fasting, the worshipper is so conscious of his Lord to refrain and observe all rules applicable to a fasting person even where no one is there to watch him. Fasting trains the mind, soul and body to be steadfast in the worship of Allah (SWT).
Socially, fasting increases love compassion and empathy in the hearts of Muslims towards one another. During fasting, family members gather to take sahur and iftar together which hardly happens in other months, due to one’s commitment.
Also, the large social gap between the rich and the poor is made closer. This is due to the fact that Zakat (obligatory alms-given) is done in Ramadan.
Additionally, the rich whose stomach and household is usually filled with all kinds of foods and exotic drinks is compelled to taste hunger just like the poor man.
For instance, when the rich man is fasting, he feels the pangs of hunger just like the poor man; he experiences what the poor man experiences almost on daily basis.
Fasting is a diplomatic means of promoting morality and discouraging immorality amongst youths in the society. The Prophet (SAW) said, whilst addressing the youth:
“Oh! You, (young men and women), whoever among you is able to maintain a wife should get married. For marriage will help him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e, private part). If he is not capable (of maintaining a wife), then to fast is best for him. For it (fasting) will help reduce his sexual urge.”
Going by the above Hadith, fasting could be one of the tools to checkmate the problem of teenage pregnancy and teenage parenthood bedevilling our society today, the result of which is children roaming about un-catered for by their teenage parents.
“Although I have a great deal of interest in Islamic Law, albeit I major in both Islamic Law and English Law And from the foregoing, it is safe to conclude that the month of Ramadan is a month filled with numerous blessings, and one who truly wants to benefit from all the superfluous blessing in the month will have to make sure to carry out the major activity for Muslims to carry out in the month, which is: “fasting” – He concluded.
