Holy Ramzan: Fasting universal

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Abdul Muqit Chowdhury :
The Holy Quran says ” … as it was prescribed to those before you”. (Sura Baqara 2:183) It is distinct that fasting was prescribed to the believers before. The name of fasting is ‘Hatva’ in the Tawrat, ‘Qurbat’ in the Zaboor and ‘Tar’ in the
Inzil. ‘Hatva’ means ‘destroying of sins’, ‘Qurbat’ means ‘attaining nearness’ and ‘Tar’ means ‘free from moral offence’.
Being ‘free from moral offence’ and ‘destroying of sins’ enables one to ‘attain nearness’ of the Creator. It was the practice of the believers before the advent of the final Islamic code of life for mankind preached by Hazrat Muhammad (Sm), the last and the greatest Prophet of Islam. ‘Roza’, ordained by Allah and observed by the Muslims is the final process of ‘self-restraint’ to attain spiritual nearness of Allah and physical well-being. The Roza is a great legacy of mankind signifying integrity and solidarity of the followers of Heavenly scriptures.
Fasting kills one’s evil motives, helps to become pure and achieve the nearness of the Creator, as it connotes in its meaning.
‘Roza,’ a Persian word, means ‘fasting’. The Arabic ‘Sawm’ means ‘abstaining from’. In the vocabulary of Shariah, abstaining from food, drink and physical pleasures from Subhe Sadeq to sun-set is ‘Sawm.’ ‘Ramadan’, an Arabic word, is derived from the root ‘ramd’. The meaning of ‘ramd’ is heat, excessive heat, to burn.’ As fasting helps to burn the bad instincts and evil deeds, hence the month is called ‘Ramadan’ or as popularly called ‘Ramzan’.
The Quran says, the fasting people ‘may learn self-restraint.’ This ‘restraint’ is called ‘Taqwa’. Ramzan opens door of salvation. It calls for ‘Taqwa’ – restraint from misdeeds. Thus, it prepares ‘Muttaqi’, who can achieve the goal of being ‘Insan-e-Kamil.’
Fasting is a guide of the believers from the dawn of history till today. It will remain unchanged. It brings joy and presents us a new life, crowned with human virtues. The month of Ramzan, we hope, will help us to build a society based on harmony and brotherhood above all enmity and inhuman relation among the children of Adam (As).
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