A Time of Renewal

So, I was listening to the Kojo Nnamdi show Monday on my car radio (WAMU, 88.5 FM) as he spoke with the presidents of Georgetown University and the University of Maryland in College Park about their colleges and education. Both schools are located in the metro Washington, D.C. area

C. D. “Dan” Mote, Jr., the president of UMD, described going back to school after the summer break as a time of renewal. That resonated with me because I have a colleague at work who has returned to school to pursue a master’s degree. I’ve shared his excitement –and anxiety at times – as he returned to school after a long hiatus and worked his way back into the rhythm of classes, reading assigned books and writing papers. President Mote’s words also took me back to my college years when each fall was like a new beginning, a time of discovery, an intellectual adventure.

I yearned for that sense of renewal -- which brings me to the topic of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar that began for me and most Muslims on August 22 upon the sighting of the new moon. Ramadan is also a time of renewal. Ramadan, Muslims believe, is when the first words of the Qur’an were revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad via the angel Jabril (Gabriel) more than 1,430 years ago.

During this month, as instructed by God in the Qur’an, Muslims fast for 29 or 30 days about an hour before sun rises until sunset so that they “will learn self-restraint,” as one translation of the book states. Observance of the month does not only involve abstaining from food and drink and intimate relationships with one’s spouse during the daylight hours. It also means to abstain from bad habits or bad deeds. The aim is to reflect on one’s shortcomings through prayer and reading of Qur'an, and to increase one’s good and charitable works so that by the end of the month that person will have achieved spiritual, mental and physical renewal.

So, for those starting a new school year or engaged in observing Ramadan or doing both, open your mind and heart to intellectual and spiritual discovery. The days and nights are pregnant with new opportunities.