Ramadan Repentance

A few years ago I was the kind of Muslim that would question people who completely changed themselves for the month of Ramadan. You could say I was judgmental, wondering why people would smoke, drink, or sin all year and suddenly become holy for the month of Ramadan. What I didn't know or understand at the time was that Ramadan was the perfect time for that change. I learned that even if a person sinned all year, the fact that they bothered to change for one holy month made it all the clearer that a person's Imaan was stronger than it seemed. It's actually so beautiful. It reminds me how powerful the month of Ramadan is. So powerful that the daily smoker refrains from touching, let alone buying, cigarettes for this month; the guy that listens to music every minute of the day, listens to Qur'an recitation for this month; the girl that never wore hijab, wears hijab for this month; the guy that never opened a book finishes the Qur'an for this month. And today I tell myself that the month of Ramadan is no less than another test of faith from Allah. And He, with his mercy and guidance, accepts the practice and prayer of the Muslim that was lost for eleven months and found himself through Allah in the month of Ramadan.