The Month of Sympathy

 

The honored Prophet of Islam declared that:  “This month is the month of sympathy.” (1)

Sympathy means to help each other and to help financially. The month of Ramadan is the month of sympathy with the poor, those who are hungry, thirsty and the people of limited means. All the rich and the poor people are equal in hunger and thirst, none of them eat and drink while fasting and this is how all people, specially the rich, feel the pains of those who are hungry and so they would help them with their wealth, pay the rights of the poor and won’t refuse paying Khums and Zakat.

There are many Hadiths (narratives) in this field which are about the philosophy of fasting and its necessity and about feeling sympathy and equality with the poor. Hesham ibn Malek asked Imam Jafar Sadegh (a.s.) that what is the philosophy of fasting?  Imam Jafar Sadegh (a.s.) answered: “The Great GOD has obligated fasting to make the poor and the rich equal because the rich do not understand the pain of hunger to feel compassionate with the poor. Because the rich have fortune to provide anything they want so the Great GOD wanted to make equality among the humans and make the rich understand the pain of hunger to feel pity for the weak and be companionate about the poor.” (2)

Fazl ibn Shadab says that Imam has declared: “Fasting was given to mankind so they could understand the pain of hunger and thirst and so they could think of their poorness in the afterlife….” (3)

The honored Prophet of Islam named the month of Ramadan "The spring of the poor". (4)
It is truly the month of the poor because similar to the poor everyone are equal in this month.

 

  1.  If the Faqih does not exist vol. 2 - page 95
  2.  The same - page 73
  3.  Vasayel al Shia vol.7- page 4
  4.  The same-  page 231