Understanding the Quran During Taraweeh

All Praises to Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

Dua for Ramadan: Allahumma Ballighna Ramadan.
O Allah, let us reach the month of Ramadan.

Depending on moon sighting, Ramadan this year is expected to begin on Sunday night, March 10, with the first day of fasting on Monday, March 11, OR on Monday night, March 11, with the first day of fasting on Tuesday, March 12, Hijri 1445.

Please do not succumb to the futile practice of moon fighting. Whatever you, your family, and/or your community decide, go with it. Instead of arguing and wrangling, let us concentrate on getting the most out of this sacred month through prayers, recitation of the Quran, reflection and charity, for we do not know if we will be blessed with another Ramadan in our lives.
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Three Degrees of Fasting as Explained by Imam al Ghazali

There are three degrees of fasting: ordinary, extraordinary, and perfect.
Ordinary fasting means abstaining from food, drink, and sensual pleasures from dawn to dusk.

Extraordinary Fasting means keeping ones ears, eyes, tongue, hands, and feet and all other organs free from sin.

Perfect Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, disregarding everything except Allah (SWT). This kind of Fast is broken by thinking of worldly matters, except for those conducive to religious ends, since these constitute provision for the Hereafter and are not of the earthly life.

Those versed in the spiritual life of the heart have even said that a sin is recorded against those who concern themselves with arrangements for breaking the Fast. Such anxiety stems from lack of trust in the bounty of Allah (SWT), and from lack of absolute faith in His promised sustenance.

To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true servants of Allah (SWT), and the intimates of Allah (SWT). This third degree does not lend itself to detailed examination in words, as its true nature is best revealed in action. It consists of utmost dedication to Allah (SWT) to the discarding of everything other than Allah (SWT).

For those who would like to transition from Ordinary Fasting to Extraordinary or Perfect Fasting, requires keeping all ones organs free from sin. We need to engage in six practices to achieve it.

See Not What Displeases Allah (SWT)

Refrain from viewing anything blameworthy or reprehensible, or that distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of Allah (SWT). The Prophet (s.a.w) said: The furtive glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Shaitan. Whoever forsakes it for fear of Allah (SWT) will receive from Him a faith the sweetness of which he will find within her or his heart.
Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said: Five things break a mans Fast: lying, backbiting, gossiping, perjury and a lustful gaze.
 

Speak Not What Displeases Allah (SWT)

Guarding ones tongue against idle chatter, lying, gossiping, obscenity, rudeness, arguing, and controversy; replacing these vices with silence and occupying oneself with the remembrance of Allah (SWT) and with the recitation of Quran. This is the fasting of the tongue.
Two habits that annul Fasting are backbiting and telling lies.
The Prophet (s.a.w) said: Fasting is a shield, so when you are fasting, you should not use obscene or foolish talk. If someone attacks or insults you, say: I am fasting, I am fasting!

Hear Not What Displeases Allah (SWT)

Closing ones ears to everything reprehensible is a requirement, for everything unlawful to utter is also unlawful to hear. That is why Allah (SWT) equated the eavesdropper with the profiteer.  Also, silence in the face of backbiting is unlawful. That is why the Prophet (s.a.w) said: The backbiters and their listeners are partners in sin.

Guarding the Limbs

Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin: the hands and feet from reprehensible deeds, and the stomach from questionable food at the time of breaking Fast. It is meaningless to fast to abstain from lawful food only to break ones fast on what is unlawful.
The unlawful is a poison deadly to religion, while the lawful is a medicine, beneficial in small doses but harmful in excess. The object of fasting is to inspire moderation.
The Prophet (s.a.w) said: How many of those who fast get nothing from it but hunger and thirst! This points to those who break their fast on unlawful food. Some say it refers to those who abstain from lawful food, but break their fast through backbiting, which is unlawful. Others consider it an allusion to those who do not guard their organs against sin.

Avoid Overeating

Not to over-indulge in lawful food at the time of breaking fast, to the point of stuffing ones stomach. There is no receptacle more odious to Allah (SWT) than a belly stuffed full of lawful food.
Of what use is the fast as a means of abating appetite, if at the time of breaking it, one not only makes up for all that one has missed during the daytime but indulges in a variety of extra foods?
It has even become the custom to stock up for Ramadan with all kinds of food so that more is consumed during that time than in several other months put together! One of the objects of fasting is to experience hunger and to check desire, to reinforce the soul with piety. We must strive to transform fastings hunger into the hearts cleanser.

The Secret Nature of Fasting

The spiritual and secret nature of fasting is to weaken the forces that are Shaitans means of leading us back to evil. It is therefore essential to cut down ones intake to what one would consume on a normal night, when not fasting.
No benefit is derived from the fast if one consumes as much as one would usually eat during the day and night combined. One of the desirable aspects of fasting consists of getting little sleep during the daytime so that one feels hunger and thirst and becomes conscious of the weakening of ones powers, with the consequent purification of the heart.
One should let a degree of weakness carry over into the night, making it easier to perform the Tahajjud and to recite the praises of Allah (SWT). It may then be that Shaitan will not hover around ones heart, and that one will behold the Kingdom of Heaven.

Lailatul Qadr

The Night of Power or Destiny represents the night on which something of the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed. This is what is meant by the words of Allah (SWT): We surely revealed it on the Night of Power. (Quran 97:1)
Anyone who puts a bag of food between his heart and his breast becomes blind to this revelation. Nor is keeping the stomach empty sufficient to remove the veil unless one also empties the mind of everything but Allah (SWT).
That is the entire matter, and the starting point of it all is cutting down on excess food and making moderation the key.

Look To Allah (SWT) with Fear and Hope

After the fast has been broken, the heart should swing like a pendulum between fear and hope. For one does not know if ones fast will be accepted so that one will find favor with Allah (SWT), or whether it will be rejected, leaving one among those He dislikes. This is how one should be at the end of any act of worship one performs.
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The following videos by Imam Zaid Shakir of Zaytuna College expand on the ideas of Imam Ghazali:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePQbKR_QFcM  (23:37 minutes)
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWvWmlCGfDs (23:42 minutes)
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zCths0ZFGs (21:07 minutes)

(Compiled from several sources and edited for clarity.
Hasan Zillur Rahim, Director of Outreach, Evergreen Islamic Center)