MOHAMED WAFEER
DOHA : Ramadan is the month in which fasting has been made obligatory upon every Muslim and the Holy Quran was revealed to the humanity.
“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous (Attain Thaqwa)”
“Thaqwa” could simply be described as God consciousness, yet the detailed meaning underlying the word Thaqwa is, to be mindfulness of every moment in life on every activity, that is, we are accountable in the hereafter for all our activities. Furthermore, Al Quran says that those who have thaqwa will be guided by Quran. Here we got three most significant points,
1-Al Quran has been revealed in the month of Ramadan
2-Al Quran will guide those who have thaqwa
3-Fasting has been made obligatory in the month of Ramadan upon you, so that you may attain thaqwa.
Therefore, fasting is the key to attain thaqwa, as we take less food and do more ibadah, our mind and physical body become relaxed and relieved to concentrate on thinking of the creator, creatures and the ultimate purpose of life. This will make you get to the Quranic guidance which will then guide you to the right path of eternal salvation.
Almighty rewards for every good deed in multiples in the month of ramadan. Entering to the month of Ramadan for a Muslim is something inexplicable in words as it purifies his heart, increases the God consciousness, sins are forgiven, grants him lot of patience and it’s a wonderful opportunity to understand the difficulties of the poors and extend the helping hands towards them.
As per the holy Quran, the fasting is not something which is made obligatory on the Muslims of today alone, but it has been one of the main pillars of any major religion which is on this earth, whether the people of such religions observe fasting or not, as per the above Quranic verse. However, fasting has been practiced for centuries by religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism etc,. in what ever form, presumably similar to what the Muslims do today.
Fasting is the forth pillar of Islam too and it must be observed by everyone whoever is healthy and capable enough to do so. Basically fasting is described as the practice of abstaining, usually from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity during the time between dawn to dusk (Fajr prayer azan to Magrib azan time, in a day). Fasting is for Muslims to learn self-restraint from indulgence and the excess pleasures, to attain self control, & self discipline and empathize with poor and needy.
Fasting has got mutually inclusive two different dimensions and both are to be observed intact, in order to gain the full benefit out of it and to get the rewards. It means fasting has got a physical aspect as well as spiritual aspect. The former is to abstain from food, drink and sexual activities and the latter is to be away from all types of sins whatsoever. It doesn’t mean that the Muslims are allowed to commit sins in months other than Ramadan, but it is the period of training and practice. Human being is quite busy in his day to day life, involving in business activities, engaging in family and social affairs and spending time in various other activities of life, forgetting the very purpose of life in this world. In other words, a person gets far from his Lord and tends to concentrate only on worldly affairs which results in making him become a material man. Therefore, to strip him out of the strong hold of material life to the real life and to mould him to be a God conscious, spiritually elevated personality, there requires a strong training session. In order to fulfill such requirements God made the fasting obligatory on human being.
Fasting is one of the most significant practical tools to understand the difficulty of the poors and needy. In the month of Ramadan, Muslims aren’t supposed to get their three square meals a day but fraction of the full dish is taken for the sohoor (just before the fajr prayer time). Then again, while breaking the fast a simple food is taken. For the poor people it is the case not only in the month of Ramadan but whole year. Therefore, a man upon fasting, practically realizes the food problem of poor and he is encouraged to spend on poor and needy.
The real benefit of fasting is to make a man perfect in his life, keeping him away from sins and bad deeds while living in a manner beneficial to himself, his family, his community and his country at large. Upon fasting a man should get the steadfastness in his mind to get away from any evils and he observe patience at times of trials and turbulences in his life. If these benefits aren’t attained, it is as though a man just wasted his one month time being thirsty and hungry only. This Prophetic saying clearly says about such a fasting which is useless at the end. “Abu Huraira related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during Siyam, then Allah does not care if he abstains from food and drink.” (Bukhari, Muslim).
A wiseman will not waste his most valuable time just being thirsty and hungry for whole month achieving zero result at the end of it. But he will understand the very purpose for which fasting has been ordained upon him and get use of it at best.
The physiological benefits of fasting for human benig are uncountable, to name a few, lowering blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, refreshing the digestive system etc., apart from spiritual, psychological and social benefits.
The crux of the matter is that the fasting plays the significant role in making man gain God consciousness (Thaqwa) which makes him to be alert in entire his life seeking the pleasure of his Lord. Therefore, benefits of fasting reflect in the lives of Muslims not only in the month of Ramadan but in whole his life by letting him observing the enjoinments and prohibitions in the day to day life, by the Lord Almighty, towards achieving success in both in this life and hereafter.
