Ramazan is the most revered month of Islamic calendar. Authentic hadiths reveal that the Prophet devoted himself more in worship in Ramazan than he did during other times. For centuries Muslims have been utilising Ramazan to emulate the Prophet and dedicate themselves to the cause of Islam through prayers and philanthropic acts.
This time, however, they are bound to feel fettered by prophylactic restraints on their right to pray in mosques, thanks to the conflagratory spread of COVID-19. Nevertheless, these temporary restrictions should not be seen as an impediment to the practice of Islam, but an absolute necessity to stem the community transmission of the coronavirus.
As an ethical system, Islam plays a key role in shaping human character. The Quran gives a code of behaviour, hudal lin naas (guidance to humanity), which not just differentiates between good and bad, but helps humans identify their rights and responsibilities in a society. One such societal obligation in the Quran (4:36) is the concept of ihsaan (disinterested kindness) which lists neighbours who are related ( jaari zil qurba ), neighbours who are strangers ( jaaril junubi ), friends, orphans and the needy among the beneficiaries of a person’s benevolence. This is the good character ( husnal akhlaaq ) which an authentic hadith in Muwatta asserts the Prophet was sent to perfect.
As is obvious, Quranic huda (guidance) puts a great deal of emphasis on humanitarianism, making Islam more of an anthropocentric deen (system of life) than an obsessively theocentric religion; which is why there cannot be a greater act of philanthropy today for the Muslims than the ihsaan of fulfilling their Ramzan obligations from home.
A. Faizur Rahman
