Ramadhan - it is possible.

The blessed month is fast approaching, but before that we will be treated to the usual bouts of what has been wittily termed "moonfighting." Some authorities will tell us, the lay Muslim masses, that we should wait until the moon is seen by someone in our community. Others will tell us to wait until it is seen in Mecca. Then there will be those of us without such authority who will nevertheless shamelessly argue that the position of the moon in relation to the earth and the sun has followed the same pattern, with insignificant change, probably since before humans were around to argue over it, and definitely since God in the Qur'an said "The Sun and the Moon follow courses exactly computed" (Qur'an 55:5) Still, some people find it charming for their calendar to be full of surprises.

That aside, Ramadhan, or Ramzan, if you're speaking a South Asian language, is my favourite time of the year. Even without the festivities, the food, and the family, the days have a different quality to them. It is said that during Ramadhan, the Shaitan is kept chained, and it certainly feels that way. You get the feeling that you are less influenced by what is around you, that your mistakes are more your own, your good deeds more to your credit. You start to find out who you really are.

More importantly, perhaps, Ramadhan is a time of change. Behavioural change is the greatest challenge in public policy, and the subject of innumerable self-help books. Without changing our behaviour, we can't conserve the environment, we can't stamp out HIV, we can't bring about social justice, we can't end persecution, we can't, we can't, we can't. And yet it is so hard to control ourselves.

Ramadhan is proof that it is possible, if we have the inspiration, to change our behaviour. The late-riser can, for a month, become the early riser. The glutton can eat like a bird. The flirt can control himself. The potty-mouth will watch his language. The miser will give a little more freely. The hermit will give company to his neighbours. Not everyone does, and not everyone will, but for the majority of us its possible, because so many of us find the strength.

Whether we maintain our resolve is another matter - but that is not proof that Ramadhan can't change us. It's just proof that we do have a choice, that our environment does not actually dictate all of our bad actions. It's proof that while so many of us choose wrongly, it is possible to choose right.