As the month of fasting draws nearer, this thought has been running through my mind:
"Are we really benefiting from the month of fasting? Or do we even understand and appreciate the blessings of fasting?"
How do we know if we are really benefiting from this blessed fasting month or not?
Let's do this little test:
- Does my body weight remain the same before and after the whole month of fasting? Or do I gain a few extra pounds while going through a 30-day fast?
- Does my blood sugar-cholesterol-pressure-gastric, tension-anxiety-depression, etc. get worse instead of getting better?
- Does the cost of our month's food increase in Ramadan, while eating one meal less a day, instead of decreasing?
- Do I temporarily suspend watching movies and other “unIslamic” TV programs during Ramadan and make a mental plan to watch all the previously missed movies & TV series post-Ramadan?
- Does the price of food in the market of our Muslim majority countries increase because we buy more and stock more and eat more during Iftar and Sehri (whereas according to fasting rules we should reduce our food by one-third - which is lunch)?
- Do I get upset before the start of the fasting month that I now have to wake up early for sehri and give up all my "regular" habits?
- Do I loose my clothes a little more and cover my head a little better, but after the month of Ramadan I get quick to return them to their original “normal” place?
- Is my mind restless and waiting to go back to "all normal" life at the end of Ramadan?
If any of the above is true, then it's time for me and all of us to think about whether we’ve really understood the purpose and benefits of the month of fasting.
Even if I don't know much about the importance of fasting - at least I should know this:
Fasting is a month-long “military-style”
training in piety, after which we are supposed to see a visible change in our lives. Have you ever seen a “US Navy Seal” trained officer? A Navy Seal candidate is turned completely to an altogether different personality after going through the training and certified as proud Navy Seal. Thus fasting is a 30-day 30-dose annual physical and mental training; A great training for attaining Taqwa:
Getting up long before sunrise, taking Sahoor, refraining from all kinds of lies-bad words-quarrels-gossip-dirty lifestyle-unjust-usury-bribery-etc., while giving more alms-Sadaqa, reading more Quran and Hadith and learning from them, and not eating all day (autophagy), and breaking with the rich and the poor alike together, stand in Taraweeh for one hour at night and learn from the Quranic verses, and many more! And through this to achieve the most precious Taqwa or piety.
What is Taqwa? Taqwa is the God consciousness and the fear of God in every action. And I will not fear anyone but Allah and I will not rely on anyone's help but Allah's help (Whoever he is - the political leader of my area, the Rich men in the community, the corrupt official, economic revision cycle, my office boss, ... nobody). The last day of the month of fasting is the day to get the desired certificate of fasting.
If for some reason that coveted certificate seems like a mountain to climb this year, even if none but I am the one who will be at loss, at least knowing the worldly and physical benefits of fasting may motivate you, InshaAllah: The month of Ramadan is a remarkable 30-day, 30-dose prescription for a healthy lifestyle for humans. medicine What is called autophagy in scientific language - discovered by Japanese scientist Yoshinori Oshumi in 2016. And after that, the people of the whole world rushed to take advantage of it. They call it intermittent fasting.
If we cant think nothing much about the Ramadan, let's start the fast this time at least with that wonderful physical and spiritual benefits in sight. However, the attainment of taqwa should be the true aim for all of us - that’s the ultimate benefit - if we only knew!
References: Search Autophagy on wikipedia and Noble committee site.
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