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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan and My Non-Muslim Family

By Amal Stapley

Living with your non-Muslim family as a new Muslim poses many different challenges. In my experience, fasting Ramadan is one of the biggest challenges.

Ramadan Challenges

The challenges, of course, vary from family to family, but can be particularly challenging if they aren’t open to your new-found faith or to certain aspects of it.

As in any household, there are always compromises to be made, but when the family members have different beliefs and ways of life, the balance is a very fine one that can easily be tipped one way or the other. It sometimes feels as if you are walking on a bit of a tightrope trying to please everyone, and yet keep true to Islam.

During most of the year, minor adjustments and compromises can be made, as a new Muslim tries to keep within the bounds set by Allah, but still maintaining the family ties. The timing of activities, such as prayer, can be adjusted to fit into the family routine. Islamic activities can happen outside the house, and friends not invited round to avoid arguments and clashes.

But when it comes to the fast of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, it’s not as easy to make compromises, as the timings for fasting are strictly prescribed and the prohibitions are absolute (other than due to the lawful exceptions). Also, Allah’s commands have to take priority over family wishes:

But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness… (Luqman 31:15)

So, how can you manage to do that in Ramadan? It’s impossible to give one standard answer to that question. However, here are some ideas that I have tried while living with my family or that others have tried.

Show Understanding for Their Point of View

It can be very easy in the early flushes of your new faith to be so enthusiastic about it that you forget how strange some of the rituals of Islam seem to other people. They don’t have the same belief as you and therefore find it very difficult to understand why you have to fast for a whole month and be so strict about it. They can’t understand your motivation for doing it and everything about fasting may seem to clash with their own understandings of life and how it should be lived.

If you are facing this type of challenge, one of the best ways to explain about Ramadan I have found is to research the health benefits of fasting. Although this is not our main motivation for fasting, explaining it from a scientific perspective may help your family accept it better. Booklets like the ‘Ramadan Health Guide’ produced by the National Health Service can be a great help with this, as it’s produced by a trusted scientific organization.

Being Gently Firm

Some of my biggest challenges with my family have been when they have tried to tell me what Allah does or doesn’t want from me or when they have tried to impose their interpretation on me of how I should practice my faith.

Looking back, I can see how my practice of Islam may have been confusing, as over the years, when I have learned more and grown into Islam, I have gradually adopted slightly different practices. This may have made it seem as if it is possible to pick and choose what I practice and make it seem as if I could be persuaded to change what I had planned. But in the end, as I will be the one standing in front of Allah accounting for my life; I will be the one who has to justify my actions based on my best understanding of my faith. So I have therefore had to gently stand firm for what I have understood to be the best thing for me to do and used the ‘broken record’ technique; simply repeating my position and not succumbing to persuasion.

This hasn’t always been easy to do at the time and has resulted in some emotional conversations, but in the end, when it became clear that I was standing firm, it was accepted, even though that may have been done grudgingly. Also, maybe I gained some respect for holding onto my beliefs along the way, even though they weren’t necessarily agreed with.

Drink Plenty and Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet

One of the things that non-Muslims find most difficult to understand is the fact that not only we do not eat during the daylight hours in Ramadan, but we also don’t drink anything. Contemporary medical advice encourages people to drink water regularly to keep hydrated. So, when your parents see you not drinking, they naturally get worried that you are harming yourself.

So, make sure that you do drink plenty during the night, and let them know that you are. Also, make sure to eat a healthy balanced diet and take a short nap if you need to, to show them that you are being responsible about your fasting.

Spend Quality Time with Your Family

If your family normally eats together, it will be strange for them to know that you are in the house and not eating with them. It may be even more uncomfortable for you to sit with them but not eat. The ideal would of course be if they would be willing to change their mealtimes to eat with you, but if that doesn’t happen, there are several things you could do.

You could try to make up for missing mealtimes by finding as much quality time to spend with them at other times during the day as you can. You could help to prepare the dinner and clear away after it or better still, cook meals for them! Look out for other ways that you could show your appreciation for this being a difficult time for them.

Make It Easy for Your Parents

My father used to find Ramadan so stressful that he once suggested that I should move out for the month, so they didn’t have to deal with it. It didn’t actually come to that, but instead I tried to make it easier and more natural by taking as many opportunities as I could to go out and have iftar with friends. Not eating with them on those days made me seem more normal. When I brought back food for them, it also let them know that I was thinking of them while I was out. If you are able to go away for some time in Ramadan, it may also help to relieve some of the stress and maybe going to i`tikaf (retreat) might benefit you all!

Whatever you decide to do, you will need to do it with respect, as you are living in parents’ house and this can be a powerful tool for da`wah.

May Allah help you to find the best way to please Him and also your family!

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Source: onislam.net.

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan Daily: Arrogance

Why are you talking about arrogance in Ramadan? What does Ramadan have to do with arrogance?

We know what a terrible thing arrogance is, a Muslim shouldn’t be arrogant, and the true believer cannot be arrogant. So, what do we need to remind ourselves of during the Blessed Month of Ramadan?

Here’s a new episode of Ramadan Daily that tackles the topic of arrogance…

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan and Breaking the Two Desires

To the unacquainted, fasting for a month every year may seem like an odd and painful thing to do in the name of religion. Is there a rationale behind fasting Ramadan? What are the benefits?

The Rationale of Islamic Law

Most scholars agree that the Islamic law is based on a rationale which we can understand because there is a wisdom and reason behind legal rulings. Scholars also agree that every single legal ruling of Shari`ah (Islamic law) either brings some kind of benefit (maslahah) or wards off some kind of harm (mafsadah). In Madkhal ila Maqasid Ash-Shari`ah by Dr. Ahmad Ar-Raysuni, he explains how Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) advised Muslims to listen intently whenever they hear Allah (Exalted be He) calling “O You who believe,” as He is either directing them to a benefit or warning them of a harm.

Muslim scholars recognized this underlying rationale and thus summed up the goal of Islamic Shari`ah in one condensed sentence: ‘The attainment of benefit and prevention of harm’.

Some of them reduced it even further: ‘The attainment of benefit’.

Ibn Al-Qayyim points to this fact: “The Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are full of rationale for legal rulings.” He further affirms, “These rationales are to be found in over a thousand places (in the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah) expressed through various means.” (Madkhal ila Maqasid Ash-Shari`ah)

Definitions of Maslahah and Mafsadah

What is exactly meant by maslahah and mafsadah? Imam Ar-Razi in Al-Mahsul succinctly defined maslahah as nothing but pleasure or that which leads to it, and mafsadah as pain or that which leads to it.

Imam `Izz Ad-Deen ibn Abd As-Salam in Al-Qawa`id Al-Kubra further defines maslahah as

1- Pleasure and its causes and

2- Happiness and its causes.

He defines mafsadah as

1- Pain and its causes and

2- Sadness and its causes.

Pleasure and its opposite, pain, allude to physical realities, whilst happiness and sadness allude to emotional or psychological realities. He further divided each of the above categories into those related to this life and those related to the hereafter.

The Rationale of Fasting in Ramadan

So what has this to do with Ramadan?

Fasting in Ramadan is also an Islamic legal command and therefore it has associated benefits, and aims at preventing some harm. One of the purposes of fasting in Ramadan according to the Qur’an is to gain taqwah (piousness) by training the nafs (self) in self-control.

Imam Al-Ghazali called it ‘breaking the two desires’:

1- The desire for food and drink and

2- The desire for sexual relations

Although these desires are not actually intended to be broken literally or eliminated completely, as they are inextricable parts of human nature and we depend on these basic appetites for survival. However, they can be tamed, regulated and controlled so that one can escape from being a slave to these two desires, and protect oneself from both temporal and eternal harm, i.e. pain and sadness, whilst striving to acquire both temporal and eternal benefit, i.e. pleasure and happiness.

Amazingly, that is what the root word of taqwah literally means: to protect and save oneself from harm. The word to save/protect (waqa) is used in the Qur’anic verse: “Save yourselves and your families from the hellfire…” (At-Tahrim 66:6)

The fact that a whole month is dedicated to taming and controlling these two desires indicates to us their significance to the spiritual well-being of man. These two desires are the most pleasurable and at the same time potentially the most destructive. They appear to offer the greatest immediate pleasure or happiness, but they can also lead to greatest pain and sadness, both temporally and in the hereafter.

This is illustrated in the following hadith:

“Paradise is surrounded by difficulties and the fire is surrounded by pleasures.”

But the “difficulties” surrounding Paradise only appear as harmful (mafsada) in the sense that they incur hardship and pain; however they ultimately lead to a greater benefit (maslahah). Whereas the “pleasures” surrounding the fire are beneficial (maslahah) in the sense that they are enjoyable and desired; however, ultimately they lead to a much greater pain and harm (mafsadah).

One of the major challenges of living in Western societies is the relentless all pervasive appeal made to these two desires. Food and drink is everywhere, in limitless varieties and consumed in fatal quantities. We are literally eating ourselves to death, and in the process starving other parts of the world. Healthy sexual desires are aggressively being targeted and distorted by internet porn, films, fashion and media advertising that is available everywhere to everyone.

Most people on a daily basis are in pursuit of fulfilling these two basic desires either through permitted means (halal), or through illegal means (haram). Islamic law distinguishes for us which is beneficial and which is harmful.

Fasting and its Rewards

Fasting is the ultimate training in strengthening our ability to control our most powerful desires. The ability to control and regulate these desires and the nafs is the essence of the test of life, in which Allah wants us to attain servitude to Him Alone, as opposed to servitude to these desires. Fasting trains us not only to keep within the permitted means, but it teaches us that even moderation within the initially halal means can lead to our harm and destruction.

Fasting is one of the greatest acts of worship, and one of the most highly rewarded acts because it addresses the very thing that will determine our eternal success or failure: self-control in accordance to Islamic law. The promise of high reward, or pleasure and happiness, motivates all sane human beings to strive for its attainment.

The month of Ramadan, amongst many other immense blessings, grants us the best opportunity to strive for attaining the self-control that will lead to eternal pleasure and felicity. Allah (Exalted be He), guarantees paradise as a reward for the one who resists his/her desires.

But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from (unlawful) inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be (his) refuge. (An-Nazi`at 79:40-41)

How Merciful is Allah who not only rewards us when we control our nafs, but He also rewards us immensely whilst we are learning how to control our nafs in fasting.

May Allah grant us all the ability to earn His pleasure and not waste this magnificent opportunity! As Ibn Rajab said, “For every month that passes, you may hope to find a substitute; but alas, for the month of Ramadan, from where do you hope to replace it?”

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Source: suhaibwebb.com.

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan Daily: Patience

Patience is a virtue of the Muslim, and Ramadan is the very time to test one’s patience endurance and tolerance. Fasting requires a great deal of patience.

So, how can we keep our patience during Ramadan, and make use of the Holy Month to develop this trait?

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan Daily: Get Closer to the Qur’an

How can we build and strengthen our relationship with the Qur’an during Ramadan?

How can we get closer to the Book of God, why?

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan Daily: I`tikaf

The Holy Month of Ramadan is fast coming to an end as we are approaching the last ten days of Ramadan and Laylat Al-Qadr (the Night of Power), a night which is better than a thousand months of worship.

Thus, are you ready for such blessings? Have you worked for it? Have you prepared yourself for it? How? What should we be doing during such blessed days?

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan in a Non-Muslim Society

Ramadan is a month awaited by Muslims. This month reflects the rituals of faith that strengthen the links between one and Allah (glorified and exalted be He). Muslims celebrate this Holy Month, according to their lifestyle and custom differences. Nonetheless, the rituals of Ramadan are the same among all Muslims in the west and in Islamic countries.

Russia, for example, is not a Muslim country, but the rituals practiced by Muslims in Ramadan are the same, in the sense of meeting at the suhur table, going for prayers in congregation at the mosque, reciting Qur’an in groups, performing the Tarawih (night prayer in Ramadan), etc. These people feel a sense of closeness and religious faith by meeting with other Muslims who are doing the same.

However, when you have a busy schedule, keeping focused and caring about your spiritual deeds is not always easy. It takes steadfastness to focus, good motivation and working smartly to beat interruptions.

Here are some ways to manage your time in Ramadan, and be productive:

1- Do Not Miss Suhur

Suhur (pre-dawn meal in Ramadan) is a Prophetic Sunnah. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Have suhur, indeed there’s blessing in it”. (Al-Bukhari)

If you work day shifts and get to bed late, make sure that you wake up for suhur. Even a glass of water and some dates will suffice, for Allah will put barakah (blessing) in this. You will get the blessings in sha’ Allah and at the same time the food will give you some power to stay awake during the day.

2- Join Family for Iftar

Being with family especially in Ramadan, is a good thing that makes you feel warm and close to those who love and care about you. But, due to office working hours, your shift may be during the iftar time. Yet, there’s a way out. You can arrange to have iftar with family over the weekend.

What if you can’t arrange that?  You still can have iftar at work with office colleagues.

3- Don’t Be a Glutton!

A lot of people eat too much at iftar, and end up not praying Tarawih, or even breathe! Eating is not forbidden, but eating too much is not approved of. The body and digestive system are badly affected by that. Break up the big meal into small ones that your body can handle easily, and leave you feeling less overwhelmed.

For example: break your fast with dates and water, then pray Maghrib, then have something light like a fruit or vegetable salad, then pray `Isha’. You can have your main dish after prayers. Take small meals consistently with fruit over time; you will not feel tired during Ramadan and at the end of the month, you will be in better health.

4- Pray Tarawih

Praying Tarawih (night prayer in Ramadan) is one of the most spiritual acts in Ramadan. It is preferred to offer it in a mosque, as the prophet said: “Whoever prays Qiyam (night prayer) with the imam until he finishes, it will be recorded as if he spent the whole night in prayer”. (At-Tirmidhi)

But what if you don’t have a mosque in your city? Or what if the mosque is very far? You can pray with your friends at home, or specify a place and use it as a mosque, just to get the merits of praying in congregation.

5- Feel Ramadan

Unfortunately, a lot of us say: ‘I can’t feel Ramadan’. No, try to feel it and handle this point. So, how do you stay motivated to make the most out of Ramadan when everyone else around you treats Ramadan as a non-important event? Each one of us has a great way out. Just keep making istighfar (asking Allah’s Forgiveness) all the time. It’s an easy thing you can do while you’re working, cooking, driving, etc. The same goes with dhikr (remembrance of Allah).

You can easily motivate others and get yourself motivated too. For example, distribute dates for iftar at office, your colleagues will be happy and will feel that Ramadan is a month of giving. You could also use this moment to tell them about Allah and Islam.

6- A Coin Might Equal a House in Paradise

Almighty Allah says,

The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the likeness of a grain (of corn); it grows seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills, and Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower. (Al-Baqarah 2:261)

The example set by the Allah (glory be to Him) teaches us to be as generous as possible. We are also encouraged to give alms as a way to earn the pleasure of Allah, avert calamities and cure ailments. There was an incident from the recent past regarding a woman who was diagnosed with renal failure. Dialysis stopped showing positive results and she was recommended to undergo a kidney transplant. Another poor woman came to the hospital to donate her kidney, but was crying a lot. They asked her why she was crying. She said she was donating her kidney because she was too poor and couldn’t find any work and her kids were going hungry. The sick woman paid the poor woman the total amount for the kidney without actually taking the kidney. A day after that, when the doctors examined the sick woman, they found her 100% healthy. Subhan Allah!

7- Love Technology?

If you love technology, tune it out and reconnect with Ramadan!

A lot of today’s youth are addicted to technology; they might spend 20 hours per day playing video games or surfing the internet. But Ramadan is to remember Allah (Exalted be He) and share the happiness with your family, friends and community as well.

In Egypt, the youth keep themselves busy with social projects in Ramadan. One such task is called the ‘Ramadan Bag’. Each youth contributes some money and they buy dry rations like rice, sugar, oil etc. Each product is packed and then put into bags, and then distributed to the poor across the country.

8- Do Some Da`wah

One of the most important things each one of us can do in Ramadan as a community is to take advantage of questions from non-Muslims and  do da`wah (call to Islam) about the virtues of fasting in Islam, and how it purifies a person’s soul. Da`wah or calling others to Islam is the best of deeds, because it involves guiding people to the straight path and to that which brings them happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. Almighty Allah says,

And who is better in speech than he who (says: ‘My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness),’ and then stands firm (acts upon His Order), and invites (men) to Allah’s (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: ‘I am one of the Muslims’. (Fussilat 41:33)

If you do plan on doing da`wah (I hope so), you should know how to make da`wah. Allah says:

“Say (O Muhammad): ‘This is my way; I invite unto Allah (i.e. to the Oneness of Allah; Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge” (Yusuf 12:108)

Allah also says:

Invite (mankind, O Muhammad) to the way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the divine revelation and the Qur’an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided. (An-Nahl 16:125)

The Muslims must follow the example and guidance of their Prophet (peace be upon him) and call others to Islam, bearing insults and harm with patience for the sake of Allah, as their Messenger (peace be upon him) did. Allah (exalted be He) says,

Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes for (the meeting with) Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much. (Al-Ahzab 33:21)

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Source: productivemuslim.com.

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Fasting New Muslims

Instagramadan 1: Finding the Love That We Need

The primary function of the month of Ramadan is to gain taqwa (God-consciousness); meaning to have a true and meaningful relationship with Allah (Exalted be He), to fill your heart with true meaningful love…

How could we gain this taqwa? What does fasting has truly to do with taqwa?

Why food and drink is prohibited during the daylight hours of Ramadan? Our hearts have finite capacity, so how could we empty them out of love of other things to fill them with real feelings? And what are they?

Watch the 1st episode of the series of Instagramadan series by Brother AbdelRahman Murphy and learn how to empty our hearts out of the things that stand in the way of having real relationship with Allah…

The Love That We Need

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Fasting New Muslims

Don’t Let Your Tongue Spoil Your Ramadan

There are things that could possibly spoil our fasting, ruin our Ramadan from the very beginning. One’s tongue is one of these things that could spoil our fasting.

The Prophet (peace be upon them) spoke about some of that and how we could pay attention to its fatal effects.

But, how could we avoid that; take control on on such things?

Take Control on the Tongue

In the video below Sheikh Omar Suleiman talks about one of the things that could stand between us and the blessed month and getting its blessings and how to avoid that in order to reap the benefits of the blessed month.

 

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Fasting New Muslims

Ramadan: A Time to Know Your Inner Self

What’s happening to our inner self in Ramadan? How does Ramadan curb its cravings and desires? From what are we fasting? How does Ramadan liberate man from what holds them back or down?

The body is ordered to fast from what it needs

Let the nafs know that there is a truer aspect of yourself.

Fasting (sawm) carries a two-fold meaning; two seemingly opposing definitions combined into a single word. Sawm, as described in the Qur’an and the hadith, simultaneously fulfills both of these definitions. The primary meaning is to hold back, to refrain from and to abstain. The further meaning is to rise beyond and to move past former limits.

The month of Ramadan is a time in which we hold our bodily compulsions and instincts under strict control, together with our thoughts and mental states, our moods and desires. We submit ourselves and our accustomed patterns of life to a higher template, one that fosters a regimen of self-restraint within the body and mind and correspondingly seeks an intensification of the life of the spirit.

The body is ordered to fast from what it needs, from what is normally allowed to it, from what it desires, from what it craves, from what it may seek on a whim, and from what it habitually seeks; from all that leads to an intensification of the activities of the nafs (oneself).

Struggling with the Self

During the interval of daylight, halal (the allowed) becomes haram (forbidden) and whatever nourishes the physical body turns into haram. As for the nafs, it undertakes a psychic fast from anger, backbiting, gossip, harshness towards others and from reaching in any manner through any of the senses towards that which is disallowed. All those inclinations that strengthen the self, that allow it to inject itself with vigor and attachment into the flux of worldly life, are proscribed and denied expression.

The nafs continuously asserts itself through its ties with the body and according to a complex and ever-shifting world of attraction and desire, knowledge and ignorance that endlessly churns within it. Through its movements and motions, it seeks what it needs and wants, and can become, depending on circumstances, complacent or cavalier, disdainful or self-assured, arrogant or fearful, callous or ambitious, lethargic or craving, endlessly acting and reacting within the confines of its limited knowledge.

What it does not know it is ignorant of, and what it does not know is infinitely vaster in extent than what it knows. So, its knowledge is forever outweighed by its ignorance and its pursuits and actions are indicators of which of these (knowledge or ignorance) it acts upon.

The nafs is in continuous restless motion, but it is a motion that circumambulates around a center of manifold physical and chemical interactions that give rise to needs, wants, pleasures, habits, moods, impulsions, compulsions and desires.

The complex system of body and mind are in an incessant state of movement (that ceases only with death), switching continually from one mode to the other, pouring forth a torrent of thoughts and internal impulses that turn the mind’s focus endlessly from one locus to another. There is perpetual movement and motion but within tightly constrained boundaries -pivoting around the locus of the nafs and what it seeks.

And so the Qur’anic command is issued:

…fast until the night…. (Al-Baqarah 2:187)

Fast from what the nafs needs and desires. Let the nafs know that there is a truer aspect of yourself, a center capable of overseeing and stabilizing all the intersecting mental systems of the mind and all the material, chemical, habitual and hormonal systems of the body. Proclaim to it that there is a guardian and ruler over the self and over the physical form with which it is integrally co-mingled.

Let it know that the form and the stirrings of need and desire within the nafs have to submit to this guardian in seeking their satisfaction. The wants, needs, and desires that spring from the material form must submit to the governance and tutelage of a higher form -to the spiritual form indicated by the hadith that states: “God created Adam in His own form….” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

This is not the material form driven by chemical interactions but the spiritual substance which is the subtle, essential form of a human being; one that is masked by the ceaseless activity of an unconstrained nafs (an-nafs al-ammara).

The material form and its impulses (manifested through the nafs) are reigned in during fasting. All the things that give strength, vigor and life to the body and inner self are terminated, the attachment is reduced, denuded and weakened.

We cease to consume and are no longer able to enjoy what feeds our physical form and with that cessation we begin to unhook the clamps that bind us to the most basic goods of this world. We undo the shackles that tie us through our physicality to the world. By penetrating to the very root of our attachment, to the most fundamental layer, to the very seat of our creaturely connection to the world, food, water, sex (the three cardinal symbols of life), we overturn their dominion and arrive at a position where we, for a time, subdue them.

We deny creaturely externals, we let the creaturely demands and impulses remain unanswered; over the course of the days of fasting we let them subside and wane. We let them grow silent so we have a chance to hear what we otherwise would not hear, to perceive what we otherwise could not perceive. We subdue our physical form and when its clamoring grows silent we perhaps become aware of a spiritual form that resides subtly within us.

The vigil of denial and regulation of the physical form and the nafs is maintained until the spirit and mind’s ascendancy becomes clear:

Fast until the night…. (Al-Baqarah 2:187)

The night approaches and the day’s fast ends with the former hierarchy reversed that what was first (physically  and psychically generated needs, wants, and desires) comes last and what was last comes first, and with this new ordering of spirit and body in place, the fast is completed.

Seize the Opportunity

Over the course of the month of Ramadan, as the days merge into the nights, this drama of reversal is repeated and intensified till the person’s fasting (the person who undertakes the fast with complete sincerity and profound intensity) approaches a state of spiritual readiness.

Until in the watch (the vigil) of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan, there arrives the possibility of a profound inner remaking, an unfolding of the potential to witness the Laylat Al-Qadr.

And what can convey to you what Laylat Al-Qadr is? That night is better than a thousand months…. (Al-Qadr 97:2, 3)

During the day we break ourselves down, we fast from what sustains our existence; we submit our clay form to be unmade, to be kneaded and worked over; we remove ourselves from our material subsistence and turn to prayer and spiritual subsistence from Allah and we prepare ourselves to be reshaped.

The onset of the darkness of night is representative of pure potential waiting to emerge into existence; waiting for the command and decree which will give it form.

The angels and the Spirit (ruh) descend in it, by the command of their Lord with every decree…. (Al-Qadr 97:4)

We turn ourselves into malleable clay awaiting the shaping command of that night, anticipating the profound and weighty descents that accompany Laylat Al-Qadr.

(That night is) peace till the breaking of the dawn. (Al-Qadr 97:5)

So, sawm (fasting) fulfills its meanings; to hold back from and to abstain -pertain to the restraint engendered through the fast, to rise beyond -pertains to the results that Allah bestows upon those who seek the fast with sincerity and knowledge.

So, the fast is at once a holding back and a lifting up. The body and it’s appetites are held back and through this holding back an elusive and subtle but profound awakening begins. We are provided the means by which we alter our reality and shape what we ourselves are.

By holding back the nafs from its activity and sustenance, moments of stillness and silence are obtained; moments in which self-perception sharpens and deepens, spirit awakens and the (spiritual) form with which Allah created man begins to unfold itself.

And in yourselves; what, do you not see? (Adh-Dhariyat 51:21)

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Source: islamicity.com.

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