Eid al-Fitr: Returning to Human Nature and Nurturing Humanity

Eid al-Fitr is not merely a celebration of victory after a month of fasting. It is a reflection of how far Ramadan has truly reshaped us as human beings. It becomes a moment for evaluation: has Ramadan genuinely formed our social empathy and strengthened our human solidarity? Allah SWT states: “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.” (QS. 2:183) The purpose of fasting is taqwa. And taqwa is not merely personal piety, but a moral awareness reflected in social concern. School of empathy and humanity Ramadan teaches hunger, but not to weaken. It trains empathy. When the stomach is empty, we learn to feel what those living in deprivation experience every day. The Prophet Muhammad SAW said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” (HR. Bukhari - Muslim) This Hadith affirms that true faith is directly proportional to empathy. Ramadan educates us to step out of our ego and feel the suffering of others. It dismantles the arrogance that often grows from comfort. In hunger and thirst, humanity returns to its innate nature: a fragile and dependent creature. Humanity is born when we realise that everyone is struggling in their own way. No one is entirely strong. No one is entirely weak. Ramadan erodes the social and psychological distances between us.