Ramzan Mubarak!
The Quran says “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you many learn piety and righteousness” – 2:183. Fasting is to be done by all able bodied men and women. If a person is sick, travelling or has some illness or if a woman is pregnant then they are exempted from fasting.
During Ramadan the people who fast are not allowed to eat or drink anything (including water) from dawn to after sunset. Also one has to restrain other body parts, which may render the fast worthless; so the tongue, for instance, must avoid backbiting, abusing, slander, and lies; the eyes should avoid looking into things considered as sinful; the ears must stop from listening to conversation, words, songs, and lyrics that may spoil the spirit of fasting; and finally controlling of the heart and mind from indulging in unproductive or futile activities like, fighting, hurting or causing destruction/loss to others.
The main purposes or reasons of fasting during this month are as follows-
1. To overcome temptation, learn self-control & discipline and attain piety by feeling closer to God.
2. Fasting compels you to purify your soul and refrain from any wrongdoing, harmful habits and all evils prevailing in the society. It is detaching ourselves from all worldly pleasures and focus on one’s inner self. Fasting is not only to avoid eating from sunrise to sunset but also to abstain from speaking or doing anything bad.
3. To follow one of the five pillars of Islam that is to fast in Ramadan along with 5 times prayer a day, going for hajj at least once, believing in one god and giving alms to the poor.
4. When one is fasting and feels hunger and thirst he has to remember other people in the world who do not have food and water. Charity is one of the extremely recommended acts during fasting. Muslims are required to give minimum of 2.5% of their annual savings as charity. We come out of our luxury and experience what a large number of people lack- proper food and meals 3 times a day and help them in whichever way we can to ease their suffering. This creates feeling of empathy in our hearts to share a part of our vast resources and money with the downtrodden.
In recent years lot of research has been done about the medical benefits of Ramadan. The physiological effect of fasting includes lower of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity and essential hypertension. There are psychological effects of fasting as well. There is a peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadan. Personal hostility is at a minimum, and 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 behavior changes. There is a beneficial effect of extra prayer at night. This not only helps with better utilization of food but also helps in output.
Every Ramadan culminates with the festival of Eid ul-Fitr, which takes place either 29 or 30 days after the beginning of the month.
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