Day 2 and things are cruising
with mild headaches settling in. The
real challenge is always the non-consumption of coffee in the AM. I don’t drink much of it anyway, usually I’ll
get a small and drink half but it’s essential to the function of my body. It takes a few days for the body to go
through the complete cycle of caffeine withdrawal. Bleh.
Anyhow, today I’ll explain why it
is we observe the fast. I’m not going to
get uber technical; frankly it’ll just make people go ‘huh?’ and besides all
the details are also lost on me. And
since there are a good (probably) healthy amount of folks who may be Muslims and
read my blog, as well as know the mechanics and reasons behind Ramadan better
than myself, I figure it would be redundant to them. I’m no religious scholar so I
shall do what I always do, give my point of view (as well as stick to the facts).
30 days is how long the fast
runs, from sunup to sundown, one lunar cycle. If there’s
light outside and you’re eating, guess what, you’re not fasting. Do all Muslims fast? No.
Are all Muslims required to fast?
Yes, according to the 5 Pillars of Islam (belief, worship, charitable
giving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca known as the hajj). Are there circumstances in which a person
does not in fact have to fast? Well I’ll
get back to this one later.
Let me answer the most important
question here: the reason why we are asked to observe Ramadan. The explanation really doesn’t require a lot
of knowledge regarding the religion at all but basic common sense (You would be
surprised, as I have been often through my endeavor in understanding my
religion a bit better, how many things in Islam are actually simple common
sense. You got a brain? Well you can figure it out, trust me, it’s
not a mystery.). The following are a few
reasons I know as to why:
- The
first one is actually more than simple (I have to find another word here,
because I've overused ‘simple’ thus far).
We’re asked to. What?
Seems too unassuming? I know
right! I've scoured plenty of
literature looking for something deeper, something far more profound. But with time I realized that this
reason alone I suppose is profound and deep. Truth is that religion isn't meant to be
all that easy but neither is it
meant to be that hard. True
devotees in practically every religion is required to give up astounding
amounts of personal comfort to become pious leaders in their community (or
just for themselves in most cases).
If we could all do it so easily, wouldn't we? Of course! But we don’t so the rest of us do what
we can. I think even Allah (swt)
acknowledges that for the majority of us, just living is a challenge so somewhere
along the way I like to think that Allah (swt) decided just to make it
easier. Like, Islam for Dummies
version. And after all it is all
based on faith right? God will ask
you to do something to display this faith and if you believe, you’ll do
it.
Why are we asked to?
- Besides the all mighty important ‘because I say so’ part of it that I just mentioned above, there is the basic faith part. You believe, you do (which I also mentioned above but is worth a re-mention). This is the time of the year since you’re not overtly busy hogging (sorry for the use of the un-halal word) that you sit and really think of God. Not that you shouldn't have been doing this all along but I’m at least willing to admit (if no one else will) that day to day I’m not necessarily thinking about the word of God nor the Quran. I am sadly human enough not to crack open to re-read passages that I should be reading in the endeavor to make myself better nor do I follow the prayer as closely as I should. Folks, I’m not saying this is a good thing, I’m just admitting the truth. Every year I strive to get better, this much I will admit. Anyway, this month since one has quite a bit of time on their hands to do other things other than eat, it is encouraged to do a bit of learning and re-learning. Basically, grab a Quran and read a few chapters, or grab your fellow follower and talk about your religion. You can even simply sit there and pray to your heart’s content (or until your knees hurt) and ask for whatever it is you wish as many times as you wish. The point is to get in touch with your more spiritual side, heck, you got the time, now don’t you?
- I hesitate to say sacrifice but any other really good alternative word right now eludes me. Basically though, we are sacrificing in the name of God. Sounds extreme but not really. It’s just one month without food or water. Again it goes back to what are you willing to give up for your faith. And that too, are you willing to let go of something that is so basic, so important to yourself? Can you do it? You got it in you? Huh? Do you? DO YOU???...err…okay I calm down now.
- Cleansing of the mind and soul, yea we all got one of them, go figure. Believe it or not, when you don’t have that much energy due to not eating, you don’t have much thoughts of a more wayward nature. You can’t help but cleanse that otherwise dirty little mind of yours. I suppose God figured that that you have 10 other months in which to be all un-halal, at least u can go 1 month being a bit more…um…clean. Oh, in case you’re wondering if the “10” was a typo, it isn't. The Islamic calendar works on an 11 month cycle, not 12. To sum it up: Clean minds = godliness.
- Cleansing of the body. “Hey you! Yea you! Get that outta your mouth!” Well heck, day in and day out we try, god knows we try, to eat healthy and all that but it never works out totally, does it? So after nearly a year of cramming our bodies full of additives, preservatives, chemicals, caffeine, fats, carbs, blah blah blah…we need to give it a rest and this is where God has smoothly stepped in and said, ‘hey folks, this is an added bonus of the fast. Put the chicken tikka down for a second and let your body re-group, re-fresh, re-juv…and you’re welcome too!’ Granted this is probably not how it’s written in the good Book but possibly something close if one wasn't going to be all critical and picky about it. Never mind the tiny fact that at the end we get to gorge on whatever we want…please ignore this little detail, thanks! (Truthfully no matter how much you do gorge during the night, you will never intake the same amount of unhealthy nonsense that you could fit in through the span of a whole day)
- How about some compassion, huh? Yes, Ramadan inadvertently forces one to become compassionate, whether you are inclined to do so or not. How does this happen? We are ‘required’ for only one month to give up food and drink, that’s it…one bleedin’ month and we have the audacity to bellyache about it endlessly. Think about those who do not have access to food year long, who are forced to go to bed hungry every single day of their lives. If by 6pm your stomach is rumbling and you can do nothing but think/plot over all those things you will shove into your mouth precisely at Iftar, ever really stop to think about those who actually don’t have enough food on a daily basis to appease their hunger (or that of their children) much less plan for a grand feast at the anointed hour. This is the time where we can only imagine how the rest feel. And that too for one lousy month through a few silly hours. It's not adequate at all. It's just a mere taste (no pun intended) of the harsh reality that others face for a lifetime. Whether you want to be blind to it or not guys, hunger, starvation, homelessness, etc...it's all out there. Yea, compassion folks, it’s a mainstay of my religion. Unfortunately it takes the word of God to teach us this lesson most of the time. We can’t just ‘get’ it on our own.
- Oh wow, check out how much I saved! Yup, thanks to a whole day of not eating anything, you really don’t waste a lot of money on frivolous nonsense. Sure you buy food in preparation for the breaking and evening meal, even the meal which you partake in just before starting fast but it’s not like the normal sums you would otherwise throw away. Like for me, I spend some 4 bucks on coffee in the am and another 4 around 3pm. Then there is lunch since I am lazy and don’t like carting food to work or warming it up and once in a while I may indulge in something sweet, that depends on whether mother nature has decided to whack me with the ‘happy’ stick…women you know what I mean. So anyhoo…yes, you save quite a lot of money and what happens with that money? Well the next bullet point will answer that (BTW, did you notice my efficient and fancy use of said bullet points? Aren't I super professional? Aren't you impressed?)
- Share
the wealth. Yes, we have built-in
social services of sort in Islam.
The rich gives to the poor. (Oh
boy I can’t imagine how many republicans are even now frowning at this.) But
calm down, the poor also gives to the poor. It’s all about sharing basically. One of the most important things during
this month besides the whole not eating and getting closer to god is
Zakat is giving of alms. We are required
(all those who can afford to that is) to give money to the less fortunate. If Allah (swt) has seen fit to give you enough to make you comfortable, then what's the problem with giving just a very slight fraction of that to those who have nothing at all? Believe you me, you won't go hungry and God forbid if one day you find yourself in a situation which warrants you to be the recipient of the alms, won't you be thankful? There are rules we follow regarding how
we pay which I really don’t want to go into detail. If you wanna know… www.google.com . There you go, bust out your wallets y’all
and help out a brother or sister in need.
There is nothing but good in this deed and you may even end up
feeling virtuous about yourself. A
total win-win, right?
There you go; I think I've nearly
covered it all. Why do we do what we do,
an explanation in its basic most dumb-ed down, utterly ridiculous form. Don’t misunderstand me guys and girls, I take
this month very seriously even though it sounds like I’m joking around. The method I employ in which to express myself is definitely through humor (sometimes unconventional) as well as possibly conveying thoughts in a 'regular human being' light. I try to be as accurate about
what it is I say while keeping it relate-able.
If I started to type out cold facts like ‘so and so said such and such,
during such a time in blah blah AD…,’ I would lose you in two seconds flat. Hopefully my unique P.O.V. has kept you reading with
a smile while you’re actually learning something, right?
Darn, I nearly forgot: Is it okay for a follower not to do the fast? Yes. What are those reasons? I won’t
elaborate upon that now. I’m going to
save it for tomorrow. Right now I’ll
slug my way home.
Happy feasting everyone!
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