Presence: The Purpose Of Ramadan

One of the hardest things about fasting is entering the last phase of the day, a couple of hours before the end of the fast.  Often at this point, you're tired, hungry, drained after a full day of work (often with far too little sleep) and struggling to do anything but zone out.  And somehow, just when you want everyone to leave you alone, a sibling or parent or child or spouse - or all of them together - will stmake demands, or say or do things that make you just want to SNAP! 

The Quran tells us exactly why we're ordered to fast during Ramadan. Here's my translation of the verse:  "Prescribed for you, like those before you: fast! Perhaps your increased consciousness will last" [Quran 2:182] The ultimate purpose for fasting is to increase our level of consciousness, or 'taqwa'. This begs the question:  What is your level of consciousness and how do you know if it's increasing?

A couple of weeks ago I shared a 'Ramadan Gift' - the opening chapter of the Quran in rhyming verse.  Due to tons of very positive feedback, I'm going to share a few more verses with you. Again, don't get too excited - I'm not claiming that I'm able or that it's even possible to translate the whole Quran like this.  Also, please keep in mind that this is a first draft. It has not been thoroughly scrutinized by scholars as the final version would be if it were ever to be formally published. I'm sharing it with you to gauge your feedback and to see if it would be something worth taking further.   

I was recently talking with a client who said that he has a friend who was trying to re-connect with Islam this Ramadan and thought, "What better place to start, than the Quran?"  Granted, this person will have to read a watered down English translation and not the original, inimitably beautiful Arabic, but still, it should be all good, right?  The problem with Quran translations is that even one word misplaced can completely change the experience of the reader and their connection with Allah.  And there are a lot of bad English translations of the Quran out there. And, in recent decades, there have been some really good ones. But even the good ones translate some words in ways that can be very misleading to a native English speaker and someone who 'thinks' like a Westerner.  

Honestly, at this point, it feels like the esteemed Shaykh is on my email list, a member of The Spiritual Switch program, and is secretly spying on all of my coaching sessions.  "Okay, what are you talking about now, Mamoon?" Over the years, I've shared a lot of insights with students that I honestly never heard from anywhere else - some of which occurred to me completely randomly in a state of prayer, or when reading the Quran… and some while I was writing the book "Inside the Soul of Islam". And recently, some of those same ideas - even the exact same insights into the same verses - have mysteriously been coming up in Shaykh Hamza's talks. I kid you not!

Ever notice how it's almost always during Ramadan that Israel or the US decide to suddenly conduct illegal wars against Muslim populations?  You think that's a coincidence?  I don't.  I think it's full-on spiritual warfare.  The materialist world-view would have you believe that your state of mind and spirit has nothing to do with governments, politicians, bombs, media and wars in the 'real' world.  I don't buy it.   

We're rapidly approaching the halfway point of Ramadan, which means if your Ramadan or Quran goals were unrealistic, it's starting to show up right now. I'm as guilty of this as anyone.  My original Ramadan goal was to read all of Muhammad Asad's "Message of the Quran" commentary, which it turns out takes over two hours per juz (chapter). That's a lot of time to be reading the Quran in English, and that's before even reading it in Arabic. So, I adjusted to my favourite Ramadan Quran strategy.

There is a mufti, who hides in the inner-recesses of your mind. Any time it sees anything, or anyone, it gives a 'legal' verdict. Right or wrong. Good or bad. Positive or negative. One of us or one of them. As soon as it gives its verdict, it judges and blames... leaving another part of you, the inner-victim, to suffer the consequences. Now I can almost hear you thinking…

The deepest, most important work I do with people results in 3 big changes happening: Deepen your connection with Allah Become your best self Improve your relationships The way that happens is by 'flipping' your Spiritual Switch.  

Ramadan Mubarak!  I've been playing around with something in my spare time and I want to share a little piece of it with you.  You might have experienced that the beauty and majesty of the Quran is sorely lost in translation.  There are better English translations today than when I was growing up, so the message may be more clear now, but it still requires a lot of 'hard work' to get through an English translation. For the most part, I find myself needing to read at least 3 translations before I can really appreciate the message and find a blend of meanings that fits my understanding.