ٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُمُ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ ٱلنُّورِ إِلَى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ ۗ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ ٢٥٧

Allah is the Guardian of the believers—He brings them out of darkness and into light. As for the disbelievers, their guardians are false gods who lead them out of light and into darkness. It is they who will be the residents of the Fire. They will be there forever. — Quran 2:257

Allah told us the primary purpose of Ramadan, is to be mindful of Him, to have taqwa of Him, to draw closer to Him and to know Him through Ramadan. What does this mean practically?

It means He is the only one that we thank for all goodness. A new job, a new friend, a nice cake, we thank all the people involved but we mostly thank Allah. All the people and processes along the way were just manifestations of His will (His irada), but ultimately He was in control for the whole journey, and He led us exactly where we needed to be.

Conversely when we’re going through hardships we rely on Allah alone, we take the means that He sends us and we’re grateful to utilise them. But when no solution is forthcoming, we still remain firm on our belief in Him and His will to guide us through, maybe not in the way that we want, but in the way that we need.

When the Quran talks about people taking false gods these aren’t often other “deities” like in classical polytheistic societies. This won’t be like the Greek pantheon of gods. Rather this is the modern atheism of relying on oneself to solve all of one’s problems, relying on one’s wealth or considering oneself to be powerful and capable.

In truth any wealth, power or capability we have is a temporary gift from Him alone and can vanish as quickly as it appeared. We are truly always at His mercy.

Similarly in seeking things other than Allah. Throughout human history, the human condition has sought money, power and status — glorifying the self instead of Allah.

Allah reminds us in the Quran of the importance of only glorifying Him. Relying only on Him. He is the source of all our sustenance and ability, the provider for everything of ours.

حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ ١٧٣

“Allah ˹alone˺ is sufficient ˹as an aid˺ for us and ˹He˺ is the best Protector.” — Quran 3:173