Ramadan: Holy or Unholy?

Ramadan is a month on the Islamic calendar, but it is not a month like any other. It is a special month. You can learn more about it when you visit our website: www.pathwayofpeace.ca. In this article we will consider why Muslims view Ramadan as special. What makes it unique from the other months?

1. Muslims believe that during Ramadan the god of Islam gave the Quran to Mohamed. Quran 97: 1 reads, “We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power.”
2. Muslims believe that Ramadan is better than 1000 months. What this means is that the one thing you do during Ramadan equals 1000 things that Muslims do in any other month. Quran 97:3 “The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.”
3. During the month of Ramadan, Satan and his devils will be bound. What this means is that no one will do evil during Ramadan. As it is written: “When there comes the month of Ramadan, the gates of mercy (in the original language, it says the gates of heaven or paradise) are opened, and the gates of Hell are locked, and the devils are chained.” Reference: Sahih Muslim 1079 a In-book reference: Book 13, Hadith: Book 6, Hadith 2361
4. During Ramadan Muslims believe that the gates of heaven will be opened and all the gates of hell will be closed. See the reference in #3.

The challenge for Muslims is, can this be true?

1. If what Muslims believe is true and if what the prophet of Islam said was true, then why do we see many evil things still taking place around the world during Ramadan? Fighting, killing, stealing, and committing crime continue. Muslims believe that every evil thing comes from Satan and Satan should be bound. Yet the reality is that evil still exists during the time of Ramadan.
2. If what you do during Ramadan is worth more than what you do in 1000 months, then why do Muslims still pray five times a day? Wouldn’t prayer during one or two months of Ramadan be worth 80 years of prayer and the two fasts during Ramadan be worth 160 years?
3. If the gates of paradise are opened and the gates of hell are locked, does that means that whoever dies during Ramadan will go to paradise including infidels such as the Jews, the Christians, the Pagans and the Atheists? And if this is the case, then the Quran is wrong because the Quran says only Muslims will go to paradise.
4. All that Mohamed promised His people seems to be untrue, because the Quran states that everyone will go to hell. Read in Quran 19: 68 – 72 “So, by thy Lord, without doubt, We shall gather them together, and (also) the Evil Ones (with them); then shall We bring them forth on their knees round about Hell; Then shall We certainly drag out from every sect all those who were worst in obstinate rebellion against (Allah) Most Gracious. And certainly We know best those who are most worthy of being burned therein. Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrong-doers therein, (humbled) to their knees.”

The last paragraph implies that everyone will go to hell and after that the god of Islam will bring out who he will choose. Then there is no guarantee of going to paradise. My Muslim friend, you are making such an effort but this effort will not take you to the right place. Would you like to know how to fast? Would you like to know the way to paradise (Heaven)? Please read what our great God says about fasting in Isaiah 58:

They delight to draw near to God.‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such a fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?“ Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

If you want to know the way to paradise (heaven) there is only one way. Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If you would like to know or if you have any questions, contact: Rev Thabet Megaly by email: thabet_megaly@hotmail.com or call 289-687-0570.