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Allah is the master of everyone and everything that exists. We are all inevitably His servants, willingly or unwillingly, good or bad. However, Allah’s ownership and Lordship over us is based on mercy, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, justice, and patience. Allah is not unfair or biased toward anyone. In Ramadan 2025, the concept of servitude to Allah should become more pronounced. In this article on Islam4u, we will explore the concept of servitude in the Ramadan of 2025.
Is Servitude Good or Bad?
In our complete guide to Ramadan 2025, we have already briefly explained the importance of servitude in this blessed month. Whenever we hear the word servitude, we cannot help but think of slavery, torture, labor, and other negative associations. This is how we humans have made servitude to be. When someone becomes a servant of another, they usually have far fewer rights than free ones. They are bound by their masters, or should I say, owners. They are given limited food, water, services, and freedom. Of course, this, like every other issue, is not black and white. Some masters give more freedom to their servants, while others give less.
However, in the context of servitude to Allah, things could be the other way around. Those who are more obedient to Allah are freer than those who are less. Why? It’s simple. Allah is not just our master. He’s our creator, sustainer, giver of life, provider of our basic needs, and our guide. Isn’t it evident that a being who has created you and everything else for you knows what’s in your best interest? When He is the one who has given you so many blessings, why should you turn your back on Him? If it weren’t for Him, you wouldn’t be alive. Therefore, Allah favors those who serve Him in a better way. In other words, the more sincere a servant of Allah is, the more blessings, favor, and grace of His will they will enjoy.
The Laws of Allah Are for Us
Therefore, Allah has ordained certain laws for our own good. He has said, “If you obey My laws and serve Me, you will achieve happiness in both worlds. I will favor you.” He also created us with a tendency to worship someone as our God and creator. Thus, servitude to Allah is a very good thing that benefits us, not Allah.
Ramadan 2025: The Month of Servitude
Ramadan is the only month that Allah has made fasting obligatory for us. Therefore, if you are an obedient servant of Allah, you must fast. If you have valid excuses for not fasting, that is a different story. The point is that a true servant of Allah obeys His master and observes the fast during Ramadan. Those who defy Allah and choose not to fast are misbehaving servants who will suffer the consequences of their own actions. Allah is needless of everything that He has made to exist. When He instructs us to fast, it is to our own benefit. Thus, the verse reads:
وَأَن تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ ۖ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٨٤﴾
And to fast is better for you, should you know. (184)
Thinking that fasting is good for the body and is very healthy, gets rid of bodily toxins, purifies blood, and promotes mental health merely scratches the surface of the deeper benefits of fasting. Fasting strengthens one’s taqwa:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣﴾
O you who have faith! Prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, so that you may be Godwary. (183)
When you fast, you are not allowed to eat, drink, or engage in sexual intercourse for several hours of the day. This exercises the soul and builds willpower. That is when you become capable of avoiding sins with greater ease and enjoy doing good deeds. Again, fasting has many benefits that many of us still don’t know about and have yet to discover.
Fasting: The Highest Act of Servitude
The relationship between fasting and servitude is that fasting is the highest act of servitude compared with the others. For whose sake other than Allah is an individual willing to forgo food, water, and intimacy for several hours and avoid every sin? If someone other than Allah told you, “As a sign of your servitude and obedience toward me, you should not eat, drink, have intercourse, or do anything that displeases me for several hours,” would you do it? You would ask, “In return for what?” That person must give you a fitting reward for such a request. No one is willing to do such a thing for a scant reward.
The Noble Prophet quotes Allah in a hadith as saying:
الصَّوْمُ لِی وَ أَنَا أُجَازِی بِهِ.
Fasting is for Me, and I Myself will give the one who fasts its reward. (Al-Jawahir al-Sunniyyah fi al-Ahadith al-Qudsiyyah, p. 319.)
This is what makes Ramadan the month of servitude. Then, there are all the other marvelous acts of worship that are exclusive to this month. If we also consider them, Ramadan becomes THE month of servitude to Allah, and no other month deserves such a title. Let’s make Ramadan 2025 the best we have experienced thus far by serving Allah with all our hearts and souls.
Practicing Servitude in Ramadan 2025
Allah has said in verse 56 of Surah Dhariat:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦﴾
I did not create the jinn and the humans except that they may worship Me. (56)
Worshipping Allah means serving Allah. Serving Allah is servitude to Allah. As a result, the ultimate goal of creation is servitude to Allah. Therefore, we must practice servitude to Allah throughout the year, not just during Ramadan. However, we should make Ramadan 2025 an intensive training session for servitude to Allah. We should strengthen our ability to serve Allah in Ramadan 2025, which will help us gather momentum for ongoing self-improvement and servitude to Allah throughout the year.
Why is that? If you look at the occasions of Ramadan, you’ll notice the significance of this month. This is the only month Allah has obligated us to fast for the entire month. Ramadan is the only month with a Laylat al-Qadr, a night better than a thousand months. It is a month in which the whole Quran was revealed to the Noble Prophet (s) and a night in which all affairs are determined and all decisions made by Allah for the rest of the year until the next Laylat al-Qadr. We have one birth anniversary, the birthday of Imam Hassan (a), and one martyrdom anniversary, the martyrdom of Imam Ali (a). Which other month has so many occasions, both happy and sad?
Therefore, we must practice servitude this month for all these reasons.
How to Practice Servitude During Ramadan 2025?
Practicing servitude has different levels depending on the individual’s spiritual status. There is a general and specific approach. In general, servitude is practicing taqwa at all times. Taqwa has a very broad meaning. In the literal sense, it means being wary of Allah. When you’re wary of Allah, you perform all the obligatory acts (wajibat), perform as many recommended acts (mustahabbat) as you can, avoid all the prohibited acts (muharramat), and avoid as many of the disliked acts (makruhat) as you can. Taqwa itself has different levels. Those who are more capable of observing the above have a higher level of taqwa, and those who slip up sometimes and are less capable of observing them have a lower level of taqwa. Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual states are also relevant.
The Different Levels of Servitude
Physically, we must be clean, pure, hygienic, neat, and tidy. We must observe the hijab by dressing modestly. All genders have hijab. The hijab is not just about dressing modestly and appropriately. We must also take practical measures. Specifically, we must not look at non-mahrams lustfully, male or female. Mentally, we have to be careful of Satan’s deceptions. For instance, we should not develop compulsive behavior concerning laws such as taharah (purity) and nijasah (impurity). This could cause severe mental problems that could cause us to turn away from religion. Therefore, we must be cautious about our mental health as well. Emotionally, we should prioritize logic over emotions. Emotions play a crucial role in our spiritual status and proximity to Allah. Feelings of joy, sorrow, longing, regret, and guilt are all necessary for our spiritual growth. However, they must be controlled and led toward the correct path.
Spiritually, we must align our souls with our bodies. Our interior and exterior must be the same. Duplicity and hypocrisy have no place in Islam. Islam is all about sincerity, faith, devotion, patience, generosity, fairness, and forgivingness.
Conclusion
Practicing servitude during Ramadan 2025 should be almost intuitive. A Muslim who enters Ramadan without having servitude to Allah in mind is hardly a Muslim. Even if they don’t have servitude in mind, if they observe the etiquette of Ramadan, such as fasting, praying on time, avoiding sins, and having taqwa, they are serving Allah subconsciously. Nevertheless, being conscious about serving Allah during Ramadan is paramount. Ramadan is the month of Allah. We are His guests who are being served in the best way possible. Ramadan 2025 must be a time when we preserve and honor its sanctity and do our best to be the greatest servants of Allah.
