OPINION Ramadaan and social spirituality

SOUTH African Muslims will join their co-religionists globally in welcoming the blessed month of Ramadaan.

Fasting as a form of worship is not unique to Islam. Jews, Christians and people of other faith traditions also fast, but do so in slightly different ways.

The Muslim fast requires abstention from food, drink and intimacy from dawn to sunset in the month of Ramadaan.

The purpose of the Muslim fast is twofold – individual spiritual elevation and social solidarity with the poor, oppressed and the marginalized.

Ramadaan is a month of compassion and goodwill with many blessings and benefits.

Since fasting is a secret form of worship as only God knows if the individual is truly fasting, it is one of the most virtuous acts of worship a Muslim can perform.

In order to maximise the blessings and benefits of Ramadaan, the fasting person should engage their mind, body and soul.

Ramadaan 2018, commences at a time when Palestinians are marking 70 years since the Nakba – the illegal occupation of their ancestral lands by the Zionist State of Israel.

For the past six weeks they have held weakly peaceful mass demonstrations on the borders of Gaza demanding the right of return to their ancestral homes.

Demonstrators have been met with callous gunfire from Israeli soldiers, who have killed more than 30 demonstrators to date.

The ongoing struggles of the Palestinians, and other poor, dispossessed and oppressed people of the world, is what must inspire us this Ramadaan to witness courageously to justice with compassion.

We must adorn our fasts with benevolence by becoming more generous with our time, talents and wealth, by actively and sincerely joining efforts toward social justice for the oppressed and marginalised of the world.

We must also use this month to cultivate and embrace healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyles.

These are all the ways in which Muslims can engage their mind, body and soul to derive the maximum blessings and benefits of the month of Ramadaan.

During this sacred time of Ramadaan, we pray for renewed hope for oppressed people across the world to liberate themselves from the shackles of tyranny.

We pray for a social spirituality that procures both individual growth and social justice for all.

May Ramadaan 2018 be a spiritually rejuvenating time that will bring greater peace, social integration and justice to our troubled world. Imam Rashied Omar of the Claremont Main Road Mosque