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Question: Could Bawa explain the significance of Ramadan? His Holiness: The significance of Ramadan is to convert you into a true man and make you act like a human being. The idea is to make you really live and act like a human being. By feeling your own hunger you therefore feel the hunger of others, and because of that you feed other lives. If you have three pairs of pants and needed only two pairs (one to wear and one for a change), you should give the other pair of pants to someone else. If you have two measures of rice and one measure is sufficient for you, you should give the other measure to those who are hungry and need it. If you have one plate of food and there is someone who is hungry, you should share it. Give half to someone who is hungry. Think of all lives as your own life. Love them and help them. Understand the hunger of others as your own hunger and feed them. Think of another’s comfort as your own and give that comfort. You need to acquire love, peacefulness, and tranquility, and you need to show those qualities to others so they can live their lives in unity. You must give them love. You must give them love, good actions, good qualities, and show them the oneness of man. Trust and love your neighbor as yourself and have good thoughts. You need to develop qualities without differences, show love to all lives, and give compassion to all lives. Knowing how much you suffer when you are hungry, observe the hunger of others and try to satisfy that hunger. You must put out the fire of hunger. You must try to end their mental problems. You must comfort them when they are tired, and try to help them if they are poor. Ramadan was ordained so we may realize these things and act accordingly. The first point is to accept in our hearts that there is only one God. We must accept that there is only one power and no creator other than God. He is the only creator. He is the Creator—Bismillahirahmaniraheem—He is the Sustainer and He is the Nourisher. And He is the One who forgives us for all the faults that we may commit. He has no form. He has no shape. He has no color, He has no race, He has no religion, and he has no differences. He is not contained within religions or philosophies. He is beyond all this. He is that All-Perfect One. He is that One of plentitude. Although He cannot be seen by man’s physical eyes, He can be seen as wisdom within man’s wisdom. He resplends as truth within truth. He is the One who does justice within justice. That is a Power. That is a Power with no beginning or end. That is a Power without birth or death. It is that Power that controls all saktis or energies. That is a Power that comforts all lives. That is a Power that shows compassion to all lives. That Power forgives your faults and comforts you. That is a Power that has no anger. That is a Power that has no lust. That is a Power that has no passion; that Power has no hatred. That Power creates, sustains and nourishes. That is the Power that lives in all lives and is called God. Have faith in Him. He has no equal, no comparison. He is alone. He lives in all lives, comforts all lives, and does duty to all lives. You must have that firm certitude in Him. You must have faith in Him. If you have faith in Him, He has faith in you. If you respect Him, He respects you. And if you pay obeisance to Him, He pays obeisance to you. If you surrender you heart to Him, He surrenders His heart to you. If you give your love to Him, He gives His love to you. If you give your kingdom to Him, then He gives His kingdom to you. If you give your life to Him, then He gives His life to you. If you give your intentions to Him, then he gives His intentions to you. That Power is intermingled within us. He is the One who lives with us and helps us along. Have belief in that Power. Your prayer is to give all responsibilities to Him, and your duty is to pay respect to Him because He created you and He looks after you. If you do not forget Him, then He will not forget you. This is the Power we call God. Keep Him within you with firm certitude, so that you may live within Him. He is within you. You are searching inside Him, and He is searching inside for you. He is God. Your body, your eyes, your ears, your nostrils, your mouth, your tongue, your heart, your hands, your legs, your blood, and everything belongs to Him. Because He created everything, everything belongs to Him. Your house and property and the food that you eat, all belong to God. It is part of His creation and His divinity. Everything is His creation, everything is His property. He has created certain things that are common to all beings, like the earth, the water, and the air. He created fire which is common to everyone, and He has created the sky and the ether as a common wealth to everyone. The sun and the moon and the stars are all common to all. Try to understand this. All these treasures belong equally to everyone. Do not fight. Do not say, “This is mine,” and try to grab it from someone else. God says, “I have given this wealth to all My creations.” Everyone has earth, everyone has water, and everyone has air for his health. Everyone has the use of fire. The sky is for everyone. The sun is common to everyone. The moon is there for everyone to look at. It benefits all lives. The stars are for everyone. God says, “Realize that these are common property. It is not correct for you to fight and say, ‘This is mine. The sun belongs to me and the moon belongs to you. The earth belongs to me. And the air belongs to me. The fire belongs to me.’ You should not fight. If you keep on fighting like this, it will destroy you. You will be destroyed by the things you try to grab for yourself. “Because all these are Mine, it is common property, you must share it with others, so that you can be peaceful. Everyone should experience this so that they may live in peace, so that all may be in equality, and all may be in a state of unity. “There is enough food in the world to satisfy each person’s hunger. Each person will receive the air he needs. Each person will receive the fire that he needs. Like the earth, I made the sky common to all. Do not fight over this. Share this, and then eat.” This is what God said. But we forget this. First, we must have faith in Him, have trust in Him, pray to Him, and worship Him as the Father. Secondly, we must realize that all things belong to God. Everything belongs to God. Once we realize that we must become united as one, then we must share our lives in this open space. Because we forget this, saying, “This is mine, this is mine,” and because we fight wars which destroy us, God said, “Give charity. Share your food with all your brethren. Do not fight. These things are common to everybody. There are the ocean creatures, earth creatures, and ether creatures. The sun, moon, water, earth, etc. all belong to every one of these creatures. Take only what is needed for you.” This is what God has said. God further says, “I did not create poverty. I placed food for the birds in trees. I made grass food for insects. The chicken will scratch the earth and find its food. I placed food in the ocean for all the ocean creations. I placed food in the jungle for the animals there. For some creations I placed food in fire. For some lives, I have put food under the earth. When they start digging the earth, they find their food there. “To every creation, whether it be the birds, animals, or fish, I give fruits, leaves, and seeds. Some I feed with skin, some I feed with flowers, and some I feed with honey. I asked the bees to leave the flower and just take the honey away. There are some creations that leave the honey and just eat the flower. There are some that eat the seeds and leave the fruit. There are some that will not eat the seed, but will eat the fruit. “So like that for each of my creations, I have kept their proper nourishment. Try to understand this. Try to realize this. Realize that there is food for you on this earth and dig the earth for it. Your duty is to dig into your wisdom and then you will see. Then you will understand.” That is what God has said. But we keep on saying, “I” and we torture others and grab possessions with thoughts of killing and fighting. We try to keep their possessions. That is why God sent down the third obligatory duty which is charity, but the people did not understand that duty. When they did not perform the duty of charity properly, Ramadan or fasting was sent down as the fourth obligation. “You did not understand charity,” God said. “Now look at the hunger that you are going through. During these thirty days, see how tired you become. See how fatigued you become. See how much weight you lose. See how much sleep you lose. Realize that other lives experience that same state. If you experience this state for thirty days, you will realize what another person suffers when you take away whatever possessions he has, when you take away his wages, and take away all that he should have rightly had. You are putting him in this state of hunger for days or years. So look at him. See his state and realize that state. If, during these thirty days you experience so much torture, realize that he experiences the same agony for fifty years or sixty years or one hundred years, because you have grabbed his properties. Look at that state.” This is why God sent down this obligatory duty. That was sent to the Rasulullah, Prophet Muhammad (Sal.) as the fourth obligatory duty. The fifth obligatory duty was Hajj or pilgrimage. You are asked to give charity, you are asked to share food and feed the hungry, and then, you are commanded to go to Mecca and Medina on Hajj. Before you go, you have to distribute all your property. Give what you must to your wife and children. Give to the poor what you have to give, and give to those who are hungry. Give everything away. Then, wearing your shroud, think of your death while making this journey. You are now setting out to die within God while wearing your shroud. That is the fifth obligatory duty. To understand and perform this duty, is called charity or sadaqah, fasting or Ramadan, and Hajj or pilgrimage. When you understand this state and die within Him, that is Hajj. When you act according to His commandments it is called fasting. When you realize your self, surrender to all lives and do duty to them, that is charity. To lose yourself, and surrender totally to God, is worship or prayer. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the soul, this world and everything belongs to God. That absolute certitude is called Iman. These are the five obligatory duties one has to perform. Ramadan is the fourth obligatory duty. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Family Newsletter January – February 1997
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