Bayyina Foundation: THE RAMADAN LECTURE: By Jahangir Mohammed

A World Crying Out for Ramadan and Islam

I have been planning to write this essay for a number of years, but it just didn’t happen. This year, with the will of Allah (SWT) and encouraged by friends, it came together. Maybe it is because the time is right. It has been a momentous year and the world faces many great challenges. Many Western nations are facing economic bankruptcy, and people are going to suffer greatly in coming years.

On the other hand, revolutionary movements in the Arab world have toppled tyrants and are resisting those that remain, offering great hope for their people. The direction of these movements is uncertain, and only time will tell which path they take.

Meanwhile the scale of poverty and suffering caused by wars around the world and debt, grows even greater. Ramadan is the right month to assess these great issues facing humanity, reassess our lives and societies and re-direct them, but we seldom do this.

So I have written this essay first and foremost as a reminder to myself, and then my fellow Muslims, to try and focus on what Ramadan means, and how we should prepare and implement it. I also hope that non-Muslims will find it helpful to understand better what Ramadan should be about. I have called this essay ‘The Ramadan Lecture’ in the hope that Ramadan Lectures may become common in future. I would encourage anyone who wishes to hold talks and give khutbas to use this essay in Ramadan, in its entirety or parts, as they see fit.

Naturally all errors in this work are mine, and anything praiseworthy is due to Allah (SWT) alone.

Jahangir Mohammed
Director, Centre for Muslim Affairs.
cenmua@gmail.com

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