For the believers who experience the beauty of the month of Ramadan and feel the joy of worshiping God with a sincere devotion, fasting is a means to give their thanks and become closer to God. By fasting in the name of God, those who have faith glorify God, and spend their Ramadan praying and doing good deeds hoping that they earn God's approval and guidance towards the true path.

Leading the believers to the true path, the religion of Islam was conveyed to all of humanity by God through our Prophet (saas).  Thus, by the command of God, our Prophet (saas) became a leader guiding people to the true path, imparted the verses of the Qur'an, and became a blessing upon them with his superior ethics, wisdom, and good conscience that is in full compliance with the commandments of the Qur'an. The great devotion and love Muslims feel for our Prophet (saas) and their loyalty and submission to his commandments are strengthened with the verses of the Qur'an describing our Prophet (saas) as; "Believing in God and believing in the believers, and a mercy for those among you who have faith" (Surat At-Tawba, 61). Appointing our Prophet (saas) as a messenger and a guide to the true path, God bestowed him with superior knowledge and physical strength, granted him wisdom from Himself, and introduced the religion of Islam to the whole mankind through his superior ethics.

Therefore, those who have faith take our Prophet's (saas) beautiful morality, his good manners, his strong faith and submission to God described in the verses of the Qur'an and observed in the authentic hadiths, and his superior effort to spread the morals of Islam in the name of God, as a role model. The Last Sermon, given by our Prophet (saas) in order to guide people with wisdom, warn them with the commands of God and invite them to the morals of Islam, is an important reminder for Muslims to contemplate on once again in the month of Ramadan. Patiently spending the month of Ramadan by praying and fasting in the name of God, the believers should consider the last will of our Prophet (saas) with an open conscience the same way they pay heed to every erudite statement.

All the verses of the Qur'an command those who have faith to come together, to show patience in unison, not to separate and fall apart, defend their rights as one, and not to have conflicts and disputes among one another. Brotherhood is the morality God demands from those who have faith; for that reason, God reconciles the hearts of the believers despite their prior hostilities towards each other, and renders them each other's guardians. In his Final Sermon, our Prophet (saas) gives all the Muslims a vital warning in this regard: "O People! Remember, one day you will appear before God and answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone. All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly." Our Prophet (saas) informed those who have faith that the violence and bloodshed they had carried out in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance are unlawful. Moreover, he declared these statements as his legacy and left them behind as his sunnah [the sayings and teaching of the Prophet (saas)] that all Muslims should abide by.

Therefore, in the month of Ramadan we are in, fulfilling the legacy of our Prophet (saas) is an important duty of the believers who hope to turn towards God at their hearts, become closer to Him with sincerity, and earn His approval. Our Prophet (saas) continues his statements, once more emphasizing the brotherhood among those who have faith: "O believers! Listen to what I am saying to you very carefully. Every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Neither the blood nor the property of a fellow Muslim shall be lawful to another Muslim." Muslims should never tend towards the deviancies of the age of ignorance, all kinds of immoralities contradicting the morals of Islam, and corruption rendered unlawful by the Qur'an. Those who have faith should never shed the blood of, bear enmity towards, or resort to oppression and violence against other believers.

Following the advice our Prophet (saas) gave to us believers in his Final Sermon, and putting his reminder of "Muslims constitute one brotherhood" into practice all around the world is an obligation of each and every Muslim and a requirement of Islam. The attacks carried out within the world of Islam today in which brothers shed one another's blood must come to an end in the month of Ramadan, the month in which we seek the mercy of God, and all those who have faith should embrace one another as brothers in accordance with the commandments of God and the call of His messenger.

One of the beauties introduced by the religion of Islam to humanity is that those who have faith constitute one brotherhood. Living love and compassion together with their brothers and sisters is a gift from God to the believers, through which they are given the guidance of God on His truest of paths and are taught by Him the truths of the Qur'an. All the prior disputes, adversities, conflicts and enmities coming to an end, solely through faith, is a manifestation of the Might of God. Our Prophet (saas) informed us that all the blood feuds among Muslims before they became believers were remitted and rendered invalid with his words; "O People! Behold! All the practices of the days of ignorance are now under my feet. The blood revenges of the days of ignorance are remitted." Therefore, no believer can inflict oppression and violence on, or shed the blood of -may God forbid- another believer who believes in God, the Qur'an, and the Prophet (saas) just as he does. God completely forbade doing so and rendered it unlawful in the Qur'an.

So long as they do not have faith in God, it is impossible for the unacquainted members of different races, tribes, and languages to join their hearts together as brothers. All the Muslims on earth will achieve brotherhood only - and only through - the proper practice of the morals of Islam and the complete adherence to the Qur'an. In this month of Ramadan, we thank to Our Lord once again for the favors and blessings He bestowed upon us.

In his Last Sermon, our Prophet (saas) called the entire Islamic world to unite in faith in God and reminded the believers how the Qur'an measures piety as follows; "O People! You have one Lord. And you have one ancestor. All mankind is the progeny of Adam and Adam was created from clay. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and fear from God. Those who are most priced in the Sight of God are those who fear Him the most." What renders people priced in the Sight of God is simply living their lives with fear of God and love towards God, with a sincere faith and directing all their efforts and goals towards earning the approval of God. 

What renders those who have faith superior is using all the blessings they received in their worldly lives for the sake of God. By stating "Those who are most priced in the eyes of God are those who fear Him the most", our Prophet (saas) points out to a verse of the Qur'an:

"Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other. The noblest among you in God’s sight is the one with the most piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware." (Surat al-Hujurat, 13)

In this blessed and favorable month of Ramadan, God granted us as a great beauty and the world of Islam should fulfill the requirements of the words "Do not separate" as commanded by God in the Qur'an, and "Muslims constitute one brotherhood" as repeated time and time again by our Prophet (saas) in his Final Sermon.

It must not be forgotten that the greatest brotherhood worth having in the world is the brotherhood among Muslims.

Adnan Oktar's piece in New Straits Times