Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the month during which Muslims observe fasting from morning twilight to the evening twilight . The term Ramadan means “burning heat of the sun.” It is narrated from the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) that the name is given to the fasting month because fasting burns the sins. According to some narrations ‘Ramadan’ is one of the Names of Allah (SWT).
Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Among the nights of Ramadan is one special night, known as the Night of Power (Laylatul Qadr), on which the Quran was revealed. The Night of al-Qadr is better than one thousand months, and good deeds performed on that single night are equal to those performed over a thousand months. It is believed that the fate of every believer for the coming year is decreed on this night. That is why the supplications for this night ask for special favors in the decree for the year.
Fasting is an obligation in Islam not an option. It is one of the five pillars on which Islam is built. The benefits of fasting are manifold. Fasting has personal, social, hygienic and best of all spiritual benefits. For Instance, it is narrated that Allah made fasting obligatory in order to equalize between the poor and the rich. However, although fasting has some social benefits, one of the main purposes of fasting according to the holy Quran is to gain ‘self-restraint’.
There are specific acts recommended for a faster:
1- Recitation of the Qur’an: “Every thing has a season, and the season of the Qur’an is Ramadan”, “Reciting one verse of the Quran in this month has the reward of reciting the entire Quran in other times”.
2- Invocation: “Indeed there is a granted invocation for every faster at the time of breaking his/her fast”.
3-Feeding the fasting people: “Whoever feeds one who is fasting will have the equivalent reward”.
(Fasting and the Holy month of Ramadan, by Mansour Leghaei (with some changes))