Today is the first day of Ramadan. Last Ramadan, I shared a post on 10 fun facts about Ramadan, which will be linked to this post, and this time I want to take a more reflective approach and discuss it in a little more detail as I break down a common misconception.
We all need food and water to survive as living human beings, so it seems weird that Muslims would give it up for a whole month on an annual basis. But here’s the thing: Muslims do not abstain from food and drink for 720 hours (the equivalent of a whole month). Food and water is actually avoided from sunrise to sunset on a daily basis throughout this month. It has been scientifically found to have a positive impact on the body, allowing it to cleanse itself and making you healthier overall, but the real impact is on the person’s spirituality.
Whilst fasting, a Muslim abstaining from consuming the basics of all life for a certain period of time does not benefit Allah swt in any shape or form. However, it does make it easier for the person to avoid anything else in their life that may need to be avoided. In other words, they improve their discipline and we all know that discipline is important for all aspects in life and that could help us improve to be better people overall. It is through this restraint of one's self that helps improve discipline and the ability to rationalise with your desires.
During this holy month, good deeds are also multiplied and Shaytaan (Satan) is locked up so he cannot try to veer any believer off the straight path. With this in mind, Muslims are motivated to do more good and to avoid committing sins during the month that, by the time they reach its end, they would have been able to make some permanent changes to their lifestyle. After all, it takes 21 days to form a new habit and Ramadan is a whole month!
The thing is, this sort of thing is not only found in Islam, but in the other two Abrahamic faiths. Christianity has Lent and Judaism has the ‘Major Fasts’ and the ‘Minor Fasts’. Despite all fasts in the 3 religions not being the exact same, their basis and principles are to give something up for the sake of your Lord and improve upon your spiritual connection and faith. More recently, even non-religious people have been fasting too, but they do that due to the various health benefits fasting brings.
Ramadan, however, is more than just health benefits. Like I mentioned, it’s about getting closer to Allah swt and improving upon your faith. As you do that, you would also find community as this month brings people together like no other time of year. Everyone is up together in the early hours of the day, everyone breaks their fast together, and everyone stands side by side together praying during the nights whilst other people are sleeping in bed. This community helps motivate everyone to do better as we all begin to help each other out and share all sorts of reminders with each other. We motivate each other to do better and compete amongst ourselves to see who could do the best deeds the most.
Ramdan is the holiest month on the Islamic calendar. It is a time that brings people, family, friends, complete strangers, closer together like never before - and the best part is, it brings you closer to your faith. Every time. Every year.
That’s all from me today. I’ll see you in my next post! Ramadan Kareem!
P.S. Something I didn’t mention is that it’s not necessarily just the Muslim community that takes part in Ramadan. Many non-muslims may partake in some of the practices such as fasting, iftaar, or visiting a mosque, so why don’t you give it a try? Trust me, the Muslim community is so diverse, it makes Ramadan even more amazing seeing all these cultures come together!
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