The Quran says, “Indeed, We created humanity in a state of constant struggle.”
Quran | Surah Balad | 90:4 

Many of us can agree that the Quran is accurate in its assessment of what being human is like, that everything in life can feel like a mountain we have to fight to climb over. School is a mountain. Work is a mountain. Money is a mountain. Health is a mountain. The people we love are mountains. The people we don’t love are mountains. Our insecurities, each and every single one of them, are mountains. Our fears are mountains. Our disappointments are mountains. Our temptations are mountains. Our hopes and dreams are mountains. Everything in life that is worth anything to us hides on the other side of a mountain.

This is the human condition: to struggle constantly as we climb mountain after mountain in search of Allah’s bounty on this Earth. All the while, we try as hard as we can not to lose our hearts in the struggle. Needless to say, this is not easy and sometimes we need some help.

So how does this tie into Ramadan? Well, of course, Ramadan is a mountain, too. However, it is a very unique mountain and that is because Ramadan is a training mountain. Every year, Allah gathers all of those who recognize their Creator to help them practice mountain climbing. If you haven’t yet noticed, all the lessons we learn and put into practice during this month of fasting are the lessons we need to climb every mountain in our lives.

We learn that we can say no to ourselves all day, everyday, if we are committed to our goals and principles. We learn that we don’t need to fit in and that sometimes it’s better not to - that the self-respect from holding onto our religion is tremendous. We learn that our soul is the leader and not our bodies. We learn that even though some days we will climb fast and high and other days we will barely move, that staying committed to the climb is what matters most. We learn that we can handle more than we realize. We learn that everything we need on our ascent is a gift from our Creator and so gratitude is the only attitude that works. We learn that Allah knows better than we do about what is good for us. We learn that there are some climbs we would never do on our own if Allah didn’t show us the value in them. And we learn that nothing we put our hearts into for the sake of our Creator is ever wasted.

Today is the last day of Ramadan. Time on this training mountain is coming to an end and we won’t see it again for another year (insha’ Allah). It’s important that we do everything we can to use this day to carve as many of these lessons as possible into ourselves. Again, these lessons that we all practice during Ramadan (whether we are conscious of them or not), if we can hold onto them, are the keys to overcoming every mountain we encounter in life.

The true gift from fasting this month is not that the mountains get shorter or easier if we worship, but that each of us will get better at climbing. It teaches us that the painful struggle we call life can actually be a beautiful, rewarding, and enjoyable journey despite the hardships. As Muslims, we know that climbing doesn’t end until we return to our Creator. Ramadan teaches us how to thrive on the way up and even how to enjoy the views from time to time.

Poem:
There is no mountain,
I cannot climb, 
When Allah is with me, 
And my pride is left behind.