Spiritual delights of fasting Ramadhan (10)

Today on the 10th day of the blessed month of Ramadhan, we start our daily programme titled “Spiritual Delights of Fasting Ramadhan” with the special supplication for the day:

 “O Allah, appoint me this day to be among those who put their trust in You; include me therein among those who are triumphant with You; and count me therein among those who are brought near to You with Your kindness, O Goal of the seekers!

Fasting develops our character by strengthening our willpower and bolstering our patience. This is why fasting is sometimes referred to as patience and Ramadan is sometimes called “the month of patience”. God Almighty says in ayah 45 of Surah Baqarah: “And take recourse in patience and prayer…”

According to some commentators of the Qur’an, the word ‘patience’ here refers to fasting. It would mean ‘seek help in fasting and prayer’. This is because fasting makes us to exercise our willpower and practice patience. Many of us need to constantly exercise our willpower to keep it strong. There is a psychological benefit in such practices and attitudes. Researchers into the causes of success say that success requires three ingredients, that is, desire, ability, and willpower.

All people desire to be strong, successful, and financially well off. Desires like these exist for everyone. Most people have the mental and physical ability and the skills that they need to succeed if they properly put their minds to it. Strong willpower is one of the greatest reasons for success in both this world and the next. Fasting strengthens the will and conditions of a person to cope with difficulties in all aspects of his life. It helps to develop the very quality that only successful people possess, the quality of those people who can turn their desires into a reality by using skills and abilities that they have. Fasting helps us to establish strong will power because when fasting we learn to suppress our vain desires and hence develop self-respect and self-confidence and these are the ingredients required to establish will power. We can see this characteristic very much in children when they keep fast for the first time. At the time of Iftar (or breaking fast), we can see that they are proud of their ‘achievement’ and depict a much confident and mature figure than they were before.

Among the important habits of a Muslim is to put a check on vain desires. Many great thinkers and biologists have accepted the hidden benefits of eating less. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), advised us to stop eating when there was a little hunger left. This means, Almighty Allah decreed the fasting of Ramadhan as a workshop for believers to develop a comprehensive practice of suppressing vain desires. The person who can suppress the desires of hunger and thirst can suppress other desires as well. Ramadhan is the season for reform. It makes us to take stock of our life in order to be better Muslims. There are cases of Ramadhan inspiring many wayward persons to leave their undesirable habits, especially things forbidden by Allah. They begin to think that when the fasting person has to abstain from even the permitted things such as eating, drinking and lawful sensual pleasures, then, even after Ramadhan, one should ever think of doing things which are not allowed in any case. In this regard, a saying attributed to the Prophet of Islam, says: “O assembly of young people, whosoever among you has the wherewithal to marry should do so, as it will help him to lower his gaze and safeguard his chastity. And whoever is unable to do so should fast, because it diminishes sexual desire.”

The Prophet means to say that fasting gives the strength to a believer in controlling his/her passions. In other words, fasting keeps our compulsions in check by keeping us involved in a specific act of worship. This continuous connection with an act of worship helps us to refrain from unlawful acts, including those acts, like the forbidden gaze, that incite our desires.

A person who doesn’t have control over himself/herself is always trapped in the ‘inferiority complex’ phobia. A person who cannot control himself can never develop leadership qualities. Fasting is an effective method to develop self-control and hence build our character. Learning to refrain from eating and drinking even when there is a desire for it, is all a practice of self-control. For this very reason the Prophet has called Fast as a shield – which helps refrain from bad deeds.

The result of such habits is peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadhan. Personal hostility is at a minimum, and in most societies the crime rate decreases. Muslims take advice from the Prophet who said: “If one slanders you or aggresses against you, say I am fasting.”

This psychological improvement could be related to better stabilization of blood glucose during fasting as hypoglycemia after eating, aggravates behaviour changes. Fasting also helps us to overcome complexes. When we remain thirsty and hungry in Ramadhan we experience the affliction that the poor and needy people of the society experience the whole year. Hence, fasting is a way of bridging the gap between the different classes and in and out of groups in the society. While fasting, our minds should focus on poor people who all are equal in the eyes of Allah, Who doesn’t look at our wealth and our body, but looks at our deeds. This very feeling helps the poor people to overcome the “inferiority complex”. On the other hand, rich people also realize the truth of the world and feel themselves equal to the poor hence eliminating pride and “superiority complex”.

AS/ME