On other Pages:

> Editorial: If the 11 months were the stains, Let Ramadan Be the Cleaner [Page-1]

> Beyond Excellence, Part-5: Better Deeds, Best Rewards [Page-3]

> OUR JOURNEY TO THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, Part- XXI [Mediation by the Prophet] [Page-3]

> “If you have no shame, do whatever you like”!  [Page-4]

> A Fabulous Narration about Taqwa... Toubah and Pardon [Page-4]

> US: No Entry for Mr. Modi, by Ram Puniyani [Page-5]

> Lauren Booth's response to 'The Hindu' article 'Seeking Allah in the Midlands' [Page-5]

> Sex and Religion  [Page-6]

> Saving The Planet, One Drop At A Time [Page-6]

> I have a Pressure Cooker and I Am Not a Terrorist: A Take on Boston Marathon Blasts [Page-7]

> Will the biases about terrorists remain permanent? [Page-7]

> Lessons of History which we forgo [Page-9]

> The Maulanas who are imparting competitive ability in Muslim youth [Page-9]

> Changes in Madrasa Curriculum Is a Must [Page-10]

> Fresh Water: Important Gift from Allah [Page-10]

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Editorial

If the 11 months were the stains, Let Ramadan Be the Cleaner  

The holy month of Ramadan is here again to engulf us in its spiritual beauty. A month of fasting coming to clean the dirt accumulated, on our beings during the previous eleven months. Our spirit, our soul, deadened by the weight of our pursuit of immediate materialistic goals, is left stranded on the shores of restlessness.  Ramadan is the best bet for a spring cleansing not just for the soul but also for the cage our soul resides in. This cage called body doesn’t need to remind us to feed it. Eat sleep drink and merry! 

But this month has come to give us something more precious, if we focus on the purpose behind it, and i.e. to gain more taqwa, to become stronger. Become stronger so that we can follow the edicts of Islam in a better and pronounced way.

Our focus unfortunately is on the wrong things. Let me tell you about an incident from last year. On a TV show, an impoverished man from Somalia was asking a scholar in a television studio.
We are very poor people. We don’t get anything to eat at suhoor or iftar, will Allah accept our fasting? 

The Islamic scholar who was in Saudi gear put a handkerchief to his nose and began to sob. 

Touching! Isn’t it? 

This wonderful sob story made headlines everywhere. Oh, they said, our Scholar…what a sensitive scholar! 

The focus was on those tears shed on a perfumed hanky in the air conditioned studio. No reason to doubt the tears but what has happened to us? 

Why couldn’t that hungry desperation and that most agonizing query about not having anything to eat either at suhoor or iftar, make  the headline everywhere?  

In the same way, in this month of fasting where the focus should be on the soul, what we do is, do a bit extra for the body.  You begin to observe it when we see Ramadan pictures  flashing before us with the attractive pictures of a myriad variety of foods. Ramdan or Food Festival? This happens due to the change in focus, as I have said earlier.  Our hunger during fasts should remind us of the hunger and tribulations of those unfortunate people, who don’t get anything to eat for their suhoor or iftar, or those who get some food, but never enough. I am sure like me you too have read stories of big wastages of food at the iftars and elaborate dinners thereafter. Muslims spend hugely on these post iftar dinner parties. Let’s stick to simple iftars simple dinners, and avoid Israaf. The amount thus saved can be donated to any charity or better still a  charitable educational organization. 

Our change of focus to prefer aakhirah, over  duniya, would bring a lot of wonders to our ummah and us. If Allah had created us for this world, He would have created us without death! 

May the Ramadan  cleaner  wash away all the dirt, all the stains, from our souls! Aameen.

Editor-in-chief
BaKhabar (Hony.)
Email: bakhabar@biharanjuman.org