What is the essence of the ramadan day? It is true that on this very month the beginning of the revelation of the Quran was initiated. The month of Ramadan happens to be the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is considered to be a holy month for the Muslims throughout the world; it is also greeted with much joy and splendor. In actual terms, the word Ramadan has its root in the Arabic language, 'ramida' or 'ar-ramad', which means scorching heat or dryness. According to the scholars, there can be two interpretations to this name. One is that Ramadan denotes the blazing desire for food and water since it is the month of fasting. The other elucidation is that fasting with a pure intention burns away the earlier sins. On every ramadan day during the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world break their fast when the fourth prayer of the day, Maghrib is due. They eat before the sun comes up at a certain time and after a certain time during the night. There is general belief that the fasting during this very month through rigorous notion of self-restraint in the ramadan day appears to be more potent than any other time of the year. Throughout the world and even in the present age, each ramadan day gets completed through the observance of customs and traditions. He who follows the ideology of Islam has to adhere to the policies as enshrined in the religious treatise and has to perform each ramadan day with a religious heart. With the sighting of the new moon, several customs and stringent practices are perceived to initiate as an inseparable part of the deep rooted Ramadan tradition. It is in general perceived that at the outset of the Holy month, Muslims wish each other saying, "Ramadan Mubarak" which means "Blessed Ramadan." But being a naïve person you may ask why blessed? The main reason behind this is that during this time the Muslims feel that they do get in touch with their inner selves, while strengthening their faith and through the rigorous observance come closer to the God. Besides there is a very auspicious night that does arrive in this month, it is the Lailat-ul.Qadr. This very night is considered as a gift from the Almighty to the Muslims since the ordinary mortal beings are a given chance to get freedom from their sins and thus to be pure and attain innocence once again.

Now what does the concept of fasting on each ramadan day signify? Remember that the concept of fasting happens to be the third pillar of Islam. On each ramadan day the fasting gets initiated at the break of dawn and ends at the sunset. During this stipulated period no Muslim is allowed to have pleasure. On the contrary, they are supposed to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex. Is it therefore another meaning of starvation? Certainly not! On the other hand, it is a process to elevate oneself to a different spiritual plane altogether. When one is not distracted by physical needs, as during fasting, one finds more time to devote and submit oneself to Allah. Again, not being able to consume food or water for a small period of time makes one realize the importance of having easy, constant access to meals and also the plight of the downtrodden people. For this people go through penance and give gifts in the form of Zakat, an option to purify one's wealth by giving to those who have not been as blessed and other gifts. The end of the month long Ramadan is celebrated by Eid.