Friday Sermon: Islamic Celebration — Gratitude through Discipline

Ramadan as an Islamic Celebration:

Lord Shahid Aziz introduced Ramadan as a distinctively Islamic form of celebration. His purpose had been to explain why Muslims commemorated the greatest spiritual gift given to humanity through fasting, restraint, worship and service rather than through enjoyment alone.

He contrasted Ramadan with common ideas about celebration while insisting that discipline did not remove joy. The central theme had been that gratitude reached a higher form when a believer responded to Allah’s gift by willingly bringing desires, actions, wealth and time into obedience to Him.

The Revelation of the Holy Quran:

The sermon began from Holy Quran 2:185, which had identified Ramadan as the month in which the Holy Quran was revealed as guidance for humanity, with clear signs and a criterion between right and wrong. Lord Shahid Aziz described this revelation as a decisive event in human history.

He explained that divine words had descended upon the heart of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and had brought light into an age of spiritual ignorance. The Holy Quran had guided a humanity that had lost its way, and Ramadan had commemorated the beginning of this continuing gift of guidance.

Fasting before Islam:

Lord Shahid Aziz referred to Holy Quran 2:183, which had stated that fasting was prescribed for Muslims as it had been prescribed for earlier peoples so that they might develop God-consciousness. He explained that fasting had therefore not been unique to Islam.

He gave examples from earlier communities, including penitential fasting among ancient peoples, Yom Kippur in Judaism and forms of fasting practised by early Christians before religious rites. These examples had demonstrated that restraint had long been used for purification, repentance and preparation for sacred occasions.

Fasting within Judaism and Christianity:

The speaker explained that Yom Kippur had remained a Jewish day of atonement, fasting and purification. He also discussed the Christian development of Lent into a forty-day period and noted that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday had continued as fasting days within Roman Catholic practice.

He contrasted these disciplines with other features of Christian religious celebrations, such as special prayers, family gatherings, gifts, decoration and feasting. His comparison had not denied that other traditions possessed fasting; it had prepared his argument about the distinctive way Islam had connected an entire month of fasting with the revelation of scripture.

Preserving the Outward and Inward Fast:

Lord Shahid Aziz argued that Islam had preserved both the outward form and the inward spirit of fasting across fourteen centuries. The physical discipline had remained clear and communal, while its moral purpose had continued to be emphasised.

He explained that Islamic fasting had not meant abstention from food and drink alone but withdrawal from every kind of evil. The outward fast had served as practical training for the inward fast, teaching believers to control speech, conduct, motives and desires.

Giving Up What Is Lawful to Avoid What Is Wrong:

The sermon explained that food and drink were ordinarily lawful, yet believers had given them up during the prescribed hours solely in obedience to Allah. This voluntary surrender had trained the will and had shown that a person could resist a strong desire when guided by divine command.

Lord Shahid Aziz reasoned that if believers could abstain from lawful things for Allah’s sake, they should have been even more determined to avoid wrongdoing whose consequences were harmful. Fasting had therefore functioned as a method for transferring discipline from eating and drinking into every area of moral life.

Celebrating Revelation through Restraint:

Lord Shahid Aziz described the Islamic approach through a series of contrasts. Muslims had marked divine blessing through fasting rather than feasting alone, through discipline rather than decoration, and through what they gave or gave up rather than merely through what they received.

He explained that Islam had uniquely associated the commemoration of revealed scripture with a sustained act of restraint. The response to the Holy Quran had therefore not been passive admiration but a month-long effort to live under its guidance.

Self-Denial as a Higher Form of Gratitude:

The speaker used the example of a servant responding to a gift from a master. Hosting a banquet could express thankfulness, but setting aside even lawful personal desires purely out of love and loyalty had represented a deeper form of gratitude.

He said that an ordinary celebration announced that a gift had been received and appreciated. The fasting believer had gone further by surrendering rightful pleasures and using the experience to become more responsive to the needs of others. Gratitude had thus become self-discipline and service.

Ramadan as Mercy rather than Punishment:

Lord Shahid Aziz rejected the view that Ramadan had subjected Muslims to a punishment or a burden that merely had to be endured. He described the whole month as a celebration of the greatest blessing granted to humanity: the guidance of the Holy Quran.

He returned to Holy Quran 2:185, which had stated that Allah desired ease rather than hardship. The fast had been a mercy and a facility through which believers could complete the prescribed period, glorify Allah for His guidance and become grateful to Him.

The Night of Majesty and Worship:

Lord Shahid Aziz referred to the Night of Majesty, associated with the beginning of the revelation of the Holy Quran, the descent of angels and peace lasting until dawn. He said that such an event might ordinarily have been expected to inspire public festivity, feasting or an exchange of gifts.

Instead, the Holy Prophet Muhammad had directed believers towards prayer, supplication and earnest worship, especially during the final ten nights of Ramadan. The Islamic celebration had required the soul and body to surrender before Allah, making worship itself the commemoration of revelation.

Joy within the Discipline of Fasting:

The speaker cited the teaching that the fasting person had two occasions of joy: the joy experienced when completing the daily fast and the greater joy connected with meeting the Lord. He explained that discipline and joy had therefore not been opposites.

Ramadan had included the happiness of sharing the evening meal with family and friends, enjoying foods associated with the month and participating in a global religious rhythm. The joy had arisen not only from eating again but from having completed an act of obedience.

The Place of Eid-ul-Fitr:

Lord Shahid Aziz acknowledged the visible festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr, when Muslims had gathered for prayer, shared meals, exchanged gifts and celebrated with relatives and friends. He described Eid as the festival that followed the completion of the month of fasting.

He distinguished Eid from Ramadan’s commemoration of revelation. Ramadan itself had celebrated the arrival of the Holy Quran through disciplined gratitude, whereas Eid had celebrated the completion of that discipline and the strength Allah had granted believers to express gratitude for an entire month.

Worldwide Unity through Shared Restraint:

The sermon described the special sense of unity created when Muslims throughout the world observed the same discipline. Believers had known that a vast global community was sharing the experience of hunger, thirst, prayer and restraint at the same sacred time.

Lord Shahid Aziz contrasted a unity based only upon gathering to consume with the solidarity produced by voluntarily giving something up. Ramadan had united Muslims through shared self-denial, common worship and a collective response to divine guidance.

Empathy for the Poor and the Duty of Charity:

Lord Shahid Aziz explained that chosen discomfort had allowed believers to understand something of the involuntary deprivation faced by poor and vulnerable people. Hunger had softened the heart, while thirst had turned attention towards those who lacked necessities every day.

This was why Ramadan had also become a month of generosity. He recalled that the Holy Prophet Muhammad had been exceptionally generous during Ramadan. The fast had taught the pain of need, and that lesson had been intended to open both the heart and the hand in charity.

Gratitude Expressed through Obedience:

The speaker rejected the idea that Muslims had commemorated the Holy Quran without joy. He said that they had celebrated it through gratitude, and that gratitude had taken the form of obedience rather than words alone.

Using the analogy of a loyal subject honouring a king, he explained that genuine love had required alignment with the ruler’s commands rather than a party held for personal enjoyment. Ramadan had similarly asked believers to align their wills with Allah’s will and surrender personal desires in honour of the One they loved.

A Demanding but Deeper Joy:

Lord Shahid Aziz acknowledged that Ramadan had been more demanding and less comfortable than many familiar forms of celebration. Nevertheless, he argued that it had not been less joyful because its happiness had come from submission entering the heart rather than food merely entering the stomach.

The believer’s answer to the Holy Quran had involved the body, wealth, time, desire and the whole of life. Fasting had represented an acknowledgement that divine guidance had been received and that praise of Allah needed to be translated into practical obedience.

The Distinctive Privilege of Ramadan:

The speaker again recognised that earlier communities had fasted, including Jews on Yom Kippur and Christians during Lent. He nevertheless described Ramadan as the distinctive privilege of the Muslim community because the month had been linked directly with the revelation of the Holy Quran.

Muslims had been taught to mark the arrival of divine speech through the surrender of human desire. Lord Shahid Aziz therefore described fasting not as punishment or trial but as an honour: a disciplined opportunity to show that the value of Allah’s guidance had been understood.

Concluding Meaning of Islamic Celebration:

In conclusion, Lord Shahid Aziz said that Eid had arrived after fasting, prayer and restraint, and that its declaration of Allah’s greatness had completed the month’s lesson. Muslims had celebrated not through feasting alone but by fasting first, and not merely through receiving but through giving and giving up.

He ended by returning to Holy Quran 2:185: believers had been enabled to complete the number of days, exalt Allah for His guidance and become grateful. The Islamic celebration had therefore been the celebration of those who understood the value of the Holy Quran and expressed gratitude through disciplined obedience.