I begin in the Name of Him (SWT) Who Created time and man, Who Sent Down the Divine Revelation, Who Graced time and man with the Divine Revelation.

Time is a ball of secret just as man is. ALLÂH (SWT) Alone Knows what is hidden in the ball of time. Man is the only created being that records the time that he has gone through and dreams of and makes plans for the time he will go through.

Time, man and the Divine Revelation...

The point at which the three unite is “testimony”.

ALLÂH (SWT) Swears by time and the parts forming it. “By al-‘Asr... By the morn as it softly breathes… By the bright morning hours… By the day… By the night as it runs its course…  By the daybreak…” The purpose of these oaths, all of which are a part of the Divine Revelation, is to remind that time is witness to man. One of the aims of that reminder is to prompt man to use time properly and effectively. Otherwise, man will have rendered time, which has been bestowed as a blessing upon him, a witness against himself. It is waste of two kinds: First, it is waste through losing time which is a trust; second, it is waste through turning time into a witness against oneself.

ALLÂH (SWT), Who Has Made time a witness to man, Has also Made man a witness to Himself (SWT). Ash-Shahadah (i.e. the declaration: “I bear witness that there is no deity but ALLÂH and I bear witness that Muhammad is Messenger of ALLÂH”) is the clearest expression of that testimony. To be called to being a witness to ALLÂH (SWT) is an honour, and what is more the greatest honour. For, to be a witness to ALLÂH (SWT) is the greatest testimony and it is testimony to the Most Great One (SWT).  To be a witness to the Most Great One (SWT) is to attain the greatest honour. Man’s testimony does not bring any gain to ALLÂH (SWT), the One Who Sustains and Protects all that exists, the Eternal, the Ever-Living. By making man a witness to Himself (SWT), ALLÂH (SWT) Has Willed to honour man and Has Opened an infinite horizon before the mind and will that He (SWT) Has Bestowed on man. Isn’t it true that ALLÂH (SWT) Is Dhu’l-Ma‘ârij, i.e. “the Lord of the ways of ascent” (70:3). It is up to each human being to avail himself of these ways of ascent that have been granted as possibilities and opportunities by ALLÂH (SWT).

The Divine Revelation comes first among those possibilities of rise and ascent that ALLÂH (SWT) Has Bestowed upon man. The Divine Revelation too is a witness just as time and man are. It is because of its being a witness that the Divine Revelation introduces itself with such qualities as Majîd, Karîm, ’Azîz. All of these qualities are in the “active” (witness) form. The Divine Word has come down to man and man will be called to account for either carrying or not carrying it. The Divine Revelation will bear witness as to the way each human being, to whom it came down, treated towards it. The Holy Prophet’s (SAWS) being sent “as a witness” (Shâhidan) can also be understood in the context of the Divine Revelation’s bearing witness.

Yes, as it is seen, time, man and the Divine Revelation all unite at the point of testimony. But, of these three, time and the Divine Revelation are witnesses to man, whereas man is witness to ALLÂH (SWT). This is what makes man an exception. It is for this reason that time and the Divine Revelation are for man, but man is for ALLÂH (SWT). This is the Divine Hierarchy. To be doomed and subject to time is to break that hierarchy. For, in that case time will stop “to be for man” and man will start “to be for time”. And this is breaking the Divine Hierarchy and interfering in the list of honourableness.

A question like this may spring to mind: “What is the place of time and the Divine Revelation in that hierarchy?”

Ramadhan gives us an implicit answer to this very question. In order to receive that answer, it is necessary to remember the following Qur’anic Verse which expresses where the month of Ramadhan takes its value from:

It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was sent down, which is guidance (Hidayah) to mankind, which bears self-evident proofs of that guidance (Bayyinâh) and which is the criterion to discern the true from the false. Hence, whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it; and whoever is ill or on a journey [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days. Allâh Wills that you shall have ease, and does not will you to suffer hardship; and [He desires] that you complete the number [of days required], that you glorify Allâh for His having guided you aright and that you may be grateful to Him.” (2:185)

This Qur’anic Verse shows in an explicit manner the cause which makes the month of Ramadhan an exception. That cause is that the Noble Qur’an started to be sent down during this month. That fact is confirmed by the first Verse of Sûrat Al-Qadr. Ramadhan is the month of the birth of the Noble Qur’an. The Night of Al-Qadr, which is the birthday of the Divine Revelation of the Noble Qur’an, is a night within the month of Ramadhan. That fact becomes abundantly clear as a result of comparative analysis of Verse 185 of Sûrat Al-Baqarah and Verse 1 of Sûrat Al-Qadr. It is to say that if the Night of Al-Qadr, on which the Noble Qur’an was sent down, had not been a night in the month of Ramadhan, then the month of Ramadhan would have gained no holiness and blessedness. The month of Ramadhan has gained all holiness and blessedness because of its having as its part the night on which the Divine Revelation started to come down.

The holiness and blessedness of that night is expressed by Sûrat Al-Qadr:

“Verily, We have sent it down on the night of Al-Qadr.

And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr is?

The night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months.

Therein descend the angels and the Divine Inspiration by their Lord's Leave, with all Decrees [being the formulas] of indescribable happiness on every aspect of life until the rise of dawn.” (97:1-5).

The Divine Revelation, which has made the night-day it came down worth a lifetime, has also made the month it came down on, the month of Ramadhan, “the Sultan of the Months”. Ramadhan would not have become “the Sultan of the Months” if it had not brought “the sultan of the words”. This blessed Sûrah wants its addressees to discern and concede the following: “If the Divine Revelation, which has made the night it came down on worth a lifetime, comes down into my life, it will make each of my days worth a lifetime. A life into which the Divine Revelation has come down can only be worth Paradise!”  

Thus, the cause of holiness and blessedness is not timw, but the Divine Revelation. The cause of the Divine Revelation is Hidayah, i.e. “guidance”. The cause of guidance is al-Bayyinâh and al-Furqân being the quality of all of the Divine Revelations. Al-Bayyinâh denotes “abundantly clear evidence which are sufficient to prove the truth being defended”. As for al-Furqân, it “the quality or the ability that helps one to differentiate good from evil, truth from superstition, right from wrong, justice from oppression”. The Noble Qur’an is introduced with these two qualities in Verse 185 of Sûrat Al-Baqarah, which enjoins the fast during the month of Ramadhan. This is not in vain by any means. For, the Divine Revelation fulfils its aim, which is to provide guidance (Hidayah) to its addressee exclusively on account of these two qualities. Al-Bayyinâh, which is the first of these two qualities, is a quality that is contained in the Noble Qur’an itself and is presented by the Noble Qur’an to its addressee, while al-Furqân, which is the second of these two qualities, is a quality that the Noble Qur’an builds in its addressee. It is only the perception and mind built by the Noble Qur’an that gains the quality of al-Furqân. It is only the person who looks with such perception and mind that can see and comprehend properly the truths indicated by Al-Bayyinâh.

Now that we have dealt with all the above points, the killer question to be asked is as follows. Why was the revitalization of Ramadhan, which is the month of the birth of the Noble Qur’an, made compulsory as observing fast? In other words, why is the birth of the Noble Qur’an celebrated in the form of fast?

The answer to this killer question is at the same time a key to understanding and transferring the Divine Revelation into life.

The Turkish word “Oruç”, which derives from the Farsi word transcribed as “Rûza” and denoting “day”, is expressed in the language of the Noble Qur’an as “Sawm”. The word “Sawm” circumscribes the meanings of both “holding” and “forsaking”. The root meanings of the word are “to cease eating and drinking”, “to have one’s mouth closed”, “not to take in anything extra”. Etymologically, the Divine Quality “As-Samad” meaning “the Absolute, the Perfect, the Complete”, the term “sâmit” denoting “gold” becuase of its having a fixed value, the term “samad” used to designate a solid rock, the term “summ” denoting “to be silent because of having one’s mouth closed”, and the term “Samd” in the sense of “power and attraction centre” are all cognate with “Sawm”.

The word “Sawm” means “to hold”. The Turkish for “observing fast” is “oruç tutmak”. We say “namaz kılmak” for “performing prayers”, “abdest almak” for “performing ablution before prayers”, “zekât vermek” for “paying zakah”, “kelime-i şehadeti getirmek” for “declaring Ash-Shahadah (Testimony of Faith)”, “hacca gitmek” for “performing the Hajj pilgrimage”, but we say “oruç tutmak” for “observing fast” (literally “to hold fast”). If we consider that the Turkish word “tutma” is the exact equivalent of “Sawm” in the sense of fast, then the term “oruç tutmak” most likely corresponds to such an expression as “to hold holding”.

To observe fast is above all to take sides with fast. In other words, it means “I side with fast, I support fast!”

To observe fast is to hold oneself. It comes because of our not being able to hold ourselves in the face of whatever that befalls. The root of sins is based on such causes as not being able to hold one’s anger, not being able to hold one’s lower self, not being able to hold one’s concupiscence, not being able to hold one’s tongue and the like. The fast holds a person as much as that person observes the fast. Whosoever holds the head of the fast straight, the fast too will hold that person’s head straight. The fast becomes a shield protecting that person from becoming a slave to a slave, and a mind protecting that person from making a slave one’s own slave. In this sense, the fast is not “to go hungry”, but “to get nourished”. It is the body that is left hungry. This meaning is to emphasize that man’s material side is “secondary”. Man’s primary side is the one that reasons, reflects, remembers, takes advice, believes, produces value, differentiates good from evil.

Here, it comes out why Ramadhan, which is the month of the birth of the Noble Qur’an, is revitalized by leaving the body hungry. It is done so as to increase the believer’s abilities to understand and to think by stimulating and encouraging his intellectual and spiritual faculties. It is clear that doing so is connected with the Noble Qur’an: It is to help the Divine Revelation to be better understood. In fact, this is what is called “to read” the Divine Revelation. For, the purpose of reading is to understand. If a thing is not understood, it means at the same time that the thing is not read. The Divine Command “Iqra’”, i.e. “Read!” does not need another command like “Understand!” because it includes “reading” together with “understanding”. That the purpose of “Read!” occurring in the first Verses of Sûrat Al-‘Alaq, which is the earliest Sûrah of the Noble Qur’an to be revealed, is “to learn” (ta’lim) is clearly expressed in Verses 4 and 5 of this Sûrah. This is what is also required by the command “to recite the Qur’an calmly and distinctly, with your mind attuned to its meaning” (“Warattili’l-Qur’âna Tarteelâ”) found in Sûrat Al-Muzammil, which is the second earliest Sûrah of the Noble Qur’an to be revealed. Of course, the purpose of understanding is to apply in life. But a message cannot be applied in life unless it is understood.

It is for this very reason that Ramadhan is the month of the Noble Qur’an. Ramadhan is Ramadhan because it brings to us the Noble Qur’an. Our Ramadhans are blessed inasmuch as we read, understand, apply and cause to apply in our lives the Noble Qur’an.

Of course, one’s relationship with the Noble Qur’an cannot be devoted to Ramadhan. As a matter of fact, Ramadhan is the month, during which the Divine Revelation of the Noble Qur’an “did not come down”, but “started to come down”. The Noble Qur’an began to come down on the Night of Al-Qadr, a night in Ramadhan, and continued to come down over a long period needed to build the lives of a generation. The impact of the Divine Revelation cannot be confined to the years during which it came down. It will continue to rule the hearts of countless men and women at every time and at every place in just the same way as it did on the day it first came down.

The Divine Revelation is a Divine Building Project. Its aim is to build the life through the people who have been built with it. The impact of Ramadhan, just as the impact of the Divine Revelation, cannot be confined to one month alone. Bringing the climate of meaning, Ramadhan aims to spread it on all aspects of its believing addressee’s life so as to render his life Ramadhan.

The truth that should not be forgotten is as follows: The Hereafter of him who has made his life Ramadhan will be the ‘Eid, which is nothing else but Paradise. Built by Ramadhan, the consciousness of such a person is reflected in the following statement: Never will I break my fast against unbelief, polytheism and oppression, or let my atonement be Hell!