and then our exile

It is snowing! Spread the joy.! Go for a walk outside! Breathe it in! Yeah, breathe it in!
Just about now the temperature-shift has occured, so it is actually collecting on the ground in white fluffiness, while all that of this morning melted as it hit the ground.
I am about to bombard whoever will read this with bomblets of theism. A 'coming out', as it were. And so please fasten your seatbelts at this time.
~~
Treatise. I'm hesitant to begin anything like this, but think that it will both consolidate my own thought and present a personal view to others. I've tried to make it as agnostic- and baptist- and methodist- friendly as possible, but let me know if things aren't as clear as they should be. And so, I present [for the second time], by Basit Kareem Iqbal of Wuddistan, Some Thoughts On Ramadan.

Ramadan is, in its most basic form, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; fasting within this month is one of the five "pillars" of one's Islam [the others being (1)proclamation of belief; (2)the five daily prayers; (3)obligatory tithe of one's possessions for the poor; (4)pilgrimage to Makkah known as the Hajj].
O you who believe! Fasting is enjoined upon you, as it was enjoined upon those before you, that you might attain Consciousness (Q. 2:183)
...Hence, whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it; but he that is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days. God wills that you shall have ease, and does not will you to suffer hardship; but [He desires] that you complete the number [of days required], and that you extol God for His having guided you aright, and that you render your thanks [unto Him].
And if My servants ask thee about Me--behold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way. (Q. 2:_185-6, Asad's translation)
Narrated of the Prophet Muhammad: "When the month of Ramadan arrives, the gates to heaven are opened, the gates of hell are barred, and the devil is chained."
The "fasting" mentioned for the month of Ramadan is in its most basic sense abstention from three pleasures [food/drink/sex] during the time-period lasting from dawn till dusk. [This applies to all male&female Muslims who've reached the age of puberty.] Beyond that, though, it is much more, leading to the "fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but God." The following quotes are all from Imam Ghazali's Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship which I've found on the web and find to be Good. I've edited a little.

The 'fasting of the eyes' would be that which restrains them "from viewing anything that is blameworthy or reprehensible, or which distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of God. The Prophet said: 'the furtive glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, on him be God's curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of God, will receive from Him, great and gracious is He, a faith the sweetness of which he will find within his heart.' Jabir relates from Anas that God's Messenger, on him be peace, said: 'Five things break a man's fast: lying, backbiting, scandalmongering, perjury and a lustful gaze.'"

The 'fast of the tongue' would be that wherein one guards one's speech from "twaddle, lying, backbiting, scandalmongering, obscenity, rudeness, wrangling and controversy; making it observe silence and occupying it with remembrance of God and with recitation of the Qur'an. This is the fasting of the tongue."

The 'fast of the ears' would be "closing one's ears to everything reprehensible; for everything unlawful to utter is likewise unlawful to listen to."

And so: fasting is not at all merely intaking no food for a certain amount of time, but rather a *lot* more... Abu Huraira relates that the Messenger of God said: 'Many people who fast get nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst, and many people who pray at night get nothing from it except wakefulness' (Darimi). And also: 'If a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during the fast, God does not care if he abstains from food and drink' (Bukhari, Muslim).

Having said all that, there's no way I am going to claim to 'fast' as I should. Just that the ideal remains, despite mortal transgressions. And how great is the ideal!

Each night there are taraweeh prayers, wherein a portion of the Qur'an is recited [aloud---an example of that of al-Mulk (Dominion--one of my favourite suwar): Sa'd al-Ghamidi and translation]... Last year, we wandered as outcasts from one mosque to another, until we found at the MCE a recitor whose voice was truly a Gift------Shaikh Jihad was his name, and the ayat would continue on inside of me all the way home, swelling and growing in silent symphonies of beauty and THIS IS TRUE AND REAL!--it transported me to another plane.
One of the secondary 'results' of Ramadan I'm going to mention here is the true sense of Community it engenders. (i yet must deconstruct hallowe'en's NONEXISTENT linkages to same.) It brings people together upon a firm foundation, striving to be who they should be, loving one another simply because they recognize in each other things they too aspire to. In previous years during i'tikaaf [retreat], I remember discussions with people for hours upon hours--deep and filled with true substance. Even in the past two days--at the mosque last night for taraweeh, I met Murtada, Zachariya, Shelby and Abu Hammam, and was greeted with a warmth that is totally lacking anywhere else. Zachariya took off Abu Hammam's hat and put it on himself at a rakish angle, solemnly raising an eyebrow. Just, things like that--this is the real meaning of Community.
It was also during Ramadan that I met and grew to love Emad, who became closer to me than any older brother. I don't have an older brother to compare him with, but that's irrelevant.

I should probably write some more, but I honestly need to get to biology. And so now I'm going to copy in a summary I also found on the web, simply because I don't feel like typing out my own summary. ^_^
"In sum, the primary objective of fasting as stated in the Qur'an is the attainment of piety and moral excellence. The social, economic, health and disciplinary benefits are some of the other undeniable outcomes of this intense exercise. Liberation from ill habits and regaining self-control is however perhaps the most tangible reward."

Inna lillah...