Is there any difference

You and me, this Ramadan. A non-Muslim should be able to tell the difference in you and me this Ramadan. They should be able to tell, I don't know what's got into him or her, but this person has started to behave extremely patiently, extremely kindly, so punctual, so generous, so soft-spoken, so pleasant to be around, like the pleasant breeze.

That is the Sunnah, that is the Ramadan our Prophet ﷺ lived. That people could not tell he was fasting because he was agitated and angry and irritated. They could tell that daily he is taking from the light of the Qur'an and that light is spreading everywhere in his behavior.

And the way you can check is that every day when you recite or reflect or memorize the Qur'an in Ramadan, whatever your goal is with the Qur'an, you have to ask yourself the question, has the Qur'an affected my behavior today? Or has it just gotten stuck in my throat?

The Prophet ﷺ, when he was criticizing some people, he says:

They will be reciters of the Qur'an, but the recitation will never go past their throats. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5058; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1066)

Is the Qur'an for you and me just something nice to recite, to make some nice sounds with? Or is there a visible impact on your behavior? Ask your mom, ask your father, ask your friends, your housemaid, your cousins — can you see any difference in me? If not, this is not the Prophet's Ramadan. This is not the way the Prophet ﷺ lived the Qur'an.