(مَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ)
Allah does not want to place hardship upon us. Rather, what He wants is to purify us so that His blessings upon us may be completed and we may experience the fullness of blessing—in other words, that His blessing may be fulfilled for us to the highest possible degree.
Here is a simple example of what completeness means:
Today, you ate a very delicious meal, and to you, it tasted wonderful.
The completeness of the blessing is that you do not experience any stomach pain after that meal.
The completeness of the blessing is that the meal does not leave you feeling heavy, exhausted, or sluggish.
The completeness of the blessing is that your entire body benefits from what you have eaten and eliminates what it does not need, rather than allowing unwanted fat to accumulate in your body.
Therefore, purification allows you not to experience hardship at all and allows every blessing to be completed in all its aspects.
So, what is the connection between purification and Ramadan?
There is a remarkable verse that tells us very clearly that we will not touch the Qur’an unless we are purified. And here, the Qur’an is precise in its terminology:
(إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ فِي كِتَابٍ مَّكْنُونٍ لَّا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ)
We will not touch the Qur’an—not simply in the physical sense, as many people have interpreted it.
In order to touch the Qur’an and receive its light, you must be purified.
So what is this purification?
It is this remarkable practice that elevates your level of receptivity to such an extent that you will not touch the Qur’an unless you are purified.
Unfortunately, a major mistake people have made is failing to distinguish between purification and ritual bathing. These are two completely different matters:
(وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًا فَاطَّهَّرُوا)
(وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ حَتَّى تَغْتَسِلُوا)
Yet we often treat purification as being the same as seeking forgiveness, ritual bathing, absolution, or pardon, even though each of these terms has its own precise practical application in order to produce its intended results.
During the month of Ramadan, the Qur’an was revealed—the Qur’an that is touched only by those who are purified:
(شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَىٰ وَالْفُرْقَانِ)
