Ramadan 2017
A Muslim devotee tears up as she performs tarawih prayers to mark the start of Ramadan at a mosque in Singapore May 26, 2017. Reuters

This year the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins on 26 May and with it, followers of the world's second most popular religion will start their period of fasting and prayer. Following the teachings of the Quran, Muslims across the globe abstain from intercourse, drinking, eating and any kind of activities which are deemed worldly. This daily period of abstinence begins at sunrise and ends only at sunset.

Giving up food and drink are only part of Ramadan practices. More importantly, the period is meant to be done for self reflection and spirituality. On this ocassion, IBTimes Singapore has listed the top Ramadan quotes which can be shared with your near and dear ones.

  • "A fast is not a hunger strike. Fasting submits to God's commands. A hunger strike makes God submit to our demands."
  • "Fasting is, first and foremost, an exercise for identifying and managing adversity in all its forms. With faith, in full conscience, fasting calls women and men to an extra degree of self-awareness."
  • "Periodic fasting can help clear up the mind and strengthen the body and the spirit."
  • "Through prayer, fasting, and studying, God will answer."
  • "We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that is alive around us, and reconcile ourselves with our environment."
  • "We observe that in the scriptures, fasting almost always is linked with prayer. Without prayer, fasting is not complete fasting; it's simply going hungry."
  • "Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer."
  • "Start the practice of self-control with some penance; begin with fasting."
  • "Instead of looking outside of ourselves and counting potential enemies, fasting summons us to turn our glance inward, and to take the measure of our greatest challenge: the self, the ego, in our own eyes and as others see us."
  • "The philosophy of fasting calls upon us to know ourselves, to master ourselves, and to discipline ourselves the better to free ourselves. To fast is to identify our dependencies, and free ourselves from them."