Feast of Ramadan and Its Special Features
One of the meanings of the word Ramadan is “to burn in a manner that it does not create smoke and ash”. The reason why this month is called Ramadan is that sins are burned without others understanding it.
Ramadan is the month of the revelation of the Quran and is the only month that has been mentioned in the holy book. Tafsir al-Burhan quotes Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as saying that all divine books were revealed during the month of Ramadan.
Believers are invited to God’s feat in Ramadan with the sign of “Believers, fasting is decreed for you” [2:183]. This is a party with special features.
The most important feature of the feast is that God is the host and He has personally invited people. Guests here are served with Quranic verses, dua, answering duas, tawbah, and repent. According to hadiths, the first days of the month are mercy, the middle is forgiveness, and the final is the reward.
The food of this month is the food of the soul, which is necessary for spiritual growth. The sweetness of this party is the recitation of verses from the Quran as reading one verse is equivalent to reading the whole Quran in other months.
In this feast, God the Rich, the Creator, and the Glorious hosts ignorant poor humans and says: I answer to your duas and I will give a glorious reward for every breath you take during Ramadan.
Wasa'il al-Shia names some conditions of fasting including abstaining from behaviors and attributes such as lying, sin, controversy, jealousy, gossip, opposition to the truth, swearing, blame, anger, sarcasm, oppression, harassment, and interacting with corrupt people.
Fasting has its own medical benefits such as the elimination of body wastes due to hunger, however, the dawn and answer to prayers in Ramadan is another thing; the real deprived is the one who is deprived of all this goodness and blessing.
