Why fast?
I’m sure I’ve gone into this before but it’s always good to remind myself at the very least.
So, aside from it being a commandment from Allah (swt)?
Fasting is not just about staying away from food and drink from dawn to sunset.
In the Qur’an, Suratul Baqarah Verse 183:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَO believers, fasting was prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may learn self-restraint (or learn to guard yourself against evil or learn God consciousness).
What does that really mean? How does hunger make you closer to Allah?
Well (in brief), you aren’t eating throughout the day1 so you have more time to do, well, more work. It’s amazing how productive you can be (if you can ignore the hunger pangs). The hunger pangs also help to remind you of what you should be doing. It’s like a new project and you start it with a different frame of mind. You try to spend more time with extra prayer and devotion, reading more Qur’an and just basically trying to improve yourself. We try not to lie, backbite, curse etc etc.
Generally, you also try to appreciate how hard it is for others who don’t have regular food and drink and if you can, you feed people.
Yes! It’s you being extra-zealous for a month and trying to continue all the good you’ve done into the rest of the year.
We’re human.
I doubt we could maintain the actual fast for much longer.
This is not all and certainly not all that Ramadan is to me, but it’s a start.
- and seriously, you shouldn’t spend your whole day cooking for the night to eat!
Discipline and self-restraint are excellent qualities to cultivate. I admire your commitment. Especially since you are such a foodie.
Comment by webjones — Friday 5th, September 2008 @ 11:10 pm
in the same tradition of Buy Nothing Day – to learn to plan ahead, or do without, or just to help you realise what you buy.
I think i’ll try this fasting thing.
Comment by Brenda — Friday 5th, September 2008 @ 11:56 pm
Salaam… it’s true about not spending the entire cooking during Ramadan just so we can over-indulge in the evening but isn’t that first mouthful of food or drink after a day of fasting just the best?! A date tastes like the best date you ever had and a mouthful of milk tastes like the creamiest, freshest milk you ever had!
Comment by Umm Ibrahim — Saturday 6th, September 2008 @ 6:23 am
@webjones: thanks! but it doesn’t seem so hard since i’ve been doing it since i was small…even if it were just a half-day fast, or start-late fast (i’m talking about primary school age). i’m more annoyed with myself when it’s hard for me…which means in the last four years i’ve been annoyed with myself *alot*
@Brenda: i’ve never heard of “Buy Nothing Day” but it sounds cool. saz linked to some BBC blogger who was going without plastic for August and sooo many comments were about it would be more eco-friendly to do this, or why are you getting caught up in the details? and i’m thinking, she must know that somethings might be better…but what’s the point of an experiment, an eye-opening experiment if you don’t go through with it properly.
good luck with the fasting…it’s cooler by you now, right? take it easy tho
@Umm Ibrahim: Oh, I dream of a long cool drink of water. It’s awesome. But man! You would mention the foods I don’t eat. I loved milk but it makes me upset straight most times. I miss it though. I like dates but the ones mom has are like the fresh dates and my brother keeps bringing/sending for us…and I can’t take them…I mean I try very hard. I’m a complainer, aren’t I?
That thing about “don’t cook all day” is more a reminder to myself. I started this crazy baking all the time (well almost) and if you let me I’ll just bake bake bake.
Our neighbour sent us fish-stuffed pies yesterday. They were sooo good! Even though they were tinned sardines and I don’t like/eat sardines. It’s amazing what Ramadan will do to you and what it will make you eat :-)
Comment by Lilandra — Saturday 6th, September 2008 @ 6:34 am
[...] You may think not fasting in Ramadan is nice. Like when the days come that you don’t have to fast, “wooohooo”. This isn’t really the case. For example, in your household, suppose one person isn’t fasting and everybody else is…you might feel a bit strange eating while other people aren’t. (Actually, growing up, people in school and such always apologized or wanted to hide their eating in front of me. It’s not necessary. I’m fasting, you’re not. Please … eat. The physical manifestation of fasting is abstaining from food and drink but if that’s all you …). [...]
Pingback by Lily’s Blog, Dragon Absconded! » Not Fasting in Ramadan — Sunday 21st, September 2008 @ 5:04 pm
[...] You may think not fasting in Ramadan is nice. Like when the days come that you don’t have to fast, “wooohooo”. This isn’t really the case. For example, in your household, suppose one person isn’t fasting and everybody else is…you might feel a bit strange eating while other people aren’t. (Actually, growing up, people in school and such always apologized or wanted to hide their eating in front of me. It’s not necessary. I’m fasting, you’re not. Please … eat. The physical manifestation of fasting is abstaining from food and drink but if that’s all you …). [...]
Pingback by Not Fasting in Ramadan | Trinidad and Tobago | Ramadan 2008 — Sunday 21st, September 2008 @ 5:09 pm