AhlulBayt News Agency: As Ramadan approaches, Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s representative in Europe congratulated the Islamic world on the arrival of this month and emphasized the need for spiritual and psychological preparation for it.
Hojat-ol-Islam Sayyid Murtaza Kashmiri said this holy month is not a passing event, but rather a second opportunity and a comprehensive reform plan that will not succeed except with a good reception, along with awareness, repentance, discipline, and action.
Whoever welcomes the month of Ramadan with such a spirit will leave it with his heart transformed, his soul exalted and his priorities changed, he said.
He added that one should welcome this blessed month with understanding and faith.
It means to understand its position in the sight of God Almighty and to correctly recognize the month that God chose for the revelation of His eternal Book.
Reminding the purpose of fasting is also important, the senior cleric noted, adding that fasting is not prescribed only for physical restraint, but also for achieving piety.
“Therefore, welcoming this month with faith requires the believer to ask himself: What do I want to change in myself in this month? And what level of piety do I wish to achieve?”
Sincere repentance and cleansing and purifying the heart are among the most important ways to welcome the month of Ramadan, he underlined, noting that a heart that is burdened with sins cannot benefit from the lights of this month.
“Therefore, it is appropriate for a believer to enter the month of Ramadan with a pure heart, free from any grudge, regretting the past, and determined to reform.”
Hojat-ol-Islam Kashmiri also attached importance to mental preparation, that is, preparing the soul and mind to accept obedience, reducing attachment to material things, practicing tongue control, reducing preoccupation with fun and games, and getting the soul used to remembering and supplicating before the arrival of the month of Ramadan.
Because the one for whom the month of Ramadan enters while he is a prisoner of his habits, will leave it the same way he entered it; and this hadith will be the case: “Perhaps there is a fasting person who benefits from his fasting only from hunger and thirst, and perhaps there is a night-watcher who benefits from his prayer only from sleeplessness and hardship.”
Practical and devotional reception and familiarity with the Holy Quran were among other important factors that the cleric pointed out regarding preparation for Ramadan.
Among the manifestations of welcoming the month of Ramadan are also kindness to others, kinship ties, helping widows and orphans, and expanding the circle of goodness to gladden the hearts of the needy believers, he went on to say.
He also said true fasting is fasting for the limbs: the tongue fasts from backbiting and lying, the eyes fasts from what is forbidden, and the heart fasts from envy and arrogance.
“Therefore, let us seize this precious opportunity to deepen our awareness of the true Islamic values, strengthen the culture of rights and duties, and improve our morals and behavior, so that we may truly be among the pious who fear God in secret and openly and treat people in a way that pleases and pleases God; and in this way, we achieve the lofty goal of fasting.”
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