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allahar
fasting is an institution as old as
Adam it is Nature's ancient Universal
remedy for many problems animals
instinctively fast when they become
ill we go on vacation from work to relax
recharge and to regain New Perspectives
in our life why do we not take
occasional breaks from
food though we generally think of
fasting when people hear about Muslims
fasting they know Ramadan every year
Muslims fast for that one month 30 days
however that is the obligatory principle
of fasting but this period of fasting
doesn't represent the totality of
fasting in Islam the principles of
fasting because they address so many
different aspects of human psychology
physical needs material needs their
emotional needs this is not restricted
only to one time in the year and that's
why the principle of fasting in Islam
includes the whole
year Socrates Plato
Aristotle and all three fathers of
Western medicine Hypocrites galin and
paracelsus practiced and believed in
fasting on behalf of the American people
including Muslim communities in all 50
states I want to extend best wishes to
Muslims in America and around the world
Ramadan Karim Ramadan is the month in
which Muslims believe the Quran was
revealed to the prophet Muhammad
beginning with a simple word IR it is
therefore a time when Muslims reflect
upon the wisdom and guidance that comes
with faith and the responsibility the
human beings have to one another and to
God all right so that's a good question
people ask why is it that if Allah wants
me to worship more why should I fast not
eat and not drink how does not eating
and not drinking help me focus better
worship better and recite more Quran
during the day and the scholars have a
very nice answer to this they say that
when the stomach is full the rest of the
body parts become hungry your eyes
become hungry you know your ears all
other parts your desires Your Lust
increase but when your stomach is hungry
the rest of your body parts become full
and if you were to take the example if
there's someone that's in the desert
let's say or someone who's starving and
he's really really hungry and needs to
eat first do you think this person has
time for gossip no because his ears
become full do you think he has time to
listen to anything that's Haram no
because stomach is empty his ears are
ears are full you think he has time to
look at Haram things is that the main
concern like he's really starving he
needs to eat and his main concern is let
me find something Haram to look at no
because now his eyes become full and his
private parts become full so as the
stomach becomes empty the rest of the
body parts are full it kills in other
words it kills all your other desires
and now you can focus on other things
you can focus on Quran you can focus on
Allah you can focus on your worship and
improving your acts of worship and
that's the whole reason that Allah
subhana tala tells us to put our food
and drink aside so we can worship and
focus on some other
things a lot of people they're fasting
and a lot of people if you ask them what
is the definition of fasting they tell
you fasting is when you don't eat and
you don't drink from sunup until sundown
and this is the childhood definition but
people still use it fasting is when you
don't eat and don't drink from sun up to
sun down you know fasting and the word s
it means to abstain so it's not just
abstaining from food and drink but it's
abstaining from everything else that's
bad from lying you know from cheating
from using Pro profanity from anything
else that is bad not just eating and
drinking unfortunately people now they
focus on what goes into their mouth and
nobody cares what comes out of their
mouth you'll find someone who's so
adamant to not get a drop of water in
his mouth they make w and they spit a
100 times after W to make sure that not
the slightest amount of wetness goes
into their throat but then they don't
care what comes out of their mouth and
so you find them during the day in
Ramadan and they are backbiting they are
spreading rumors they are lying they're
using bad words they're cursing but yet
at the same time they exaggerate about
other things that are permissible don't
take a shower in Ramadan because you
know the cold water will hit your ears
who drinks from his ears they tell you
don't even smell good food don't use
cologne all all these things are not
even required in their religion but
their main concern is nothing goes in
and yet they don't care about what comes
out so one of the things about acts of
worship is that they're to impact the
way you behave and so fasting is
supposed to impact your manners and your
behavior and the language that you use
and make you more truthful and not lie
and so on and so forth so it's not just
about what goes in but more importantly
it's about what comes
out all right the whole idea of the
month of of Ramadan is that we're
supposed to acquire good deeds and
habits during the month that will
continue for the rest of the year all
right now what happens usually
unfortunately is two people have two
different Lifestyles lifestyle a which
is how I live outside of Ramadan and
lifestyle B which is how I change in
Ramadan so in Ramadan they read Quran
they pray they fast they don't lie they
don't use profanity the guy who smokes
stops smoking the guy who bites his
fingernails stops biting his fingernails
every possible Improvement they make it
in Ramadan and then when Eid comes they
go back to Lifestyle a ramadan's over
the Quran goes back in the Shelf
collects dust stops fasting for the
whole year stops all the other kinds of
good deeds stops giving in charity stops
being generous because they went back to
Lifestyle a you know when you hear the
scholars talking about Ramadan they
always refer to it as a school as a
madrasa that you're supposed to learn
something in this school that you
continue for the rest of the year so
it's not just that I'm good in Ramadan
and I can move back to being whatever I
am outside of Ramadan it's for me to
acquire good habits during the month and
continue them for the rest of the year
I'm going to tell you a quick true story
this actually happened and in a Muslim
country there was a man who only prayed
in Ramadan outside of Ramadan he stopped
praying immediately so in that country
they announc Eid on television when Eid
is the next day ramadan's over they
announce it in the news he was
praying and while he was praying the
news was was on the TV was on and my
uncle saw this with his own eyes the
reporter said that tomorrow isid and the
guy went out of his prayer I know this
is an extreme example but all of us do
this in varying degrees we have how we
behave in Ramadan and how we change and
the whole idea is to not change
inshallah of course the prophet
sallallah alai wasallam told us that the
believer eats for one stomach whereas
the hypocrite eats for seven
and there's very different ways that uh
we could understand this Hadith but one
is
that alhamdulillah the
believer whatever they participate in is
full of Baraka it's full of blessing
that Allah subhana tala blesses it from
that we we understand
that a lot of benefit comes out of a
very small amount so the amount of food
may be small but the benefit that Allah
allows the believer to take from it is a
lot whereas the hypocrite of course is
someone who outwardly professes to be a
Muslim but in reality they conceal those
attributes of being a
disbeliever and so that's the nature
of disbelief in a sense is that nothing
really satisfies that person because
their heart their soul their mind is
really connected to the world and the
things of the world and this these
worldly things never give real
satisfaction the real the real
satisfaction comes from knowing Allah
remembering Allah and worshiping him and
that's what gives rest to the soul
that's what gives satisfaction to the
heart and the soul and the Heart of
course connected to the body so if the
soul is at rest the heart is at rest
then also the body of the believer see
feels satisfied whereas of course the
exact opposite is the case for the
hypocrite and that's why they eat for
seven stomachs whereas the believer eats
for
one so the fast in Islam is a concession
that Allah subhana wa tala has made for
three types of people number one for the
woman when a woman is in her menstrual
cycle she's not allowed to fast the
month of Ramadan so those days that she
misses in the month of Ramadan she's
expected to make up outside of Ramadan
before the next Ramadan actually comes
the second category of people are those
who are traveling so individuals who
travel on business or even people who
are traveling on Pleasure uh those fast
that they miss uh while traveling
they're expected to make up after the
month of Ramadan before the next Ramadan
as well and the last category are those
people who are sick so an individual who
is sick and fasting may be harmful
towards his health then he is allowed to
skip fast in that day and then he can
make up that fast outside the month of
Ramadan the key thing being before the
next
Ramadan all praise are due to Allah lord
of the worlds and peace and blessings be
upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad
forever alhamdulillah the month of
Ramadan uh is upon us and this is a time
of fasting a time of struggling a time
of Joy a time of uh reflection the
creator of the heavens and the the Earth
Allah has told
us that the month of Ramadan is that
time in which the Quran was revealed as
a guidance to humanity and clear
evidence from the guidance and from the
foran that which separates truth from
falsehood so Ramadan in its Essence is
not just just a time of fasting that the
basis of it is a fast uh from dawn to
Sunset but it really is a time of
reflection it is a time of tawa because
we know that our creator has told us
clearly and speaking to
Believers Allah told us oh you who
believe you know fear your lord and the
way way he should be feared and do not
die except in a state of Islam and that
it is through this month we are able to
fulfill our Islam and the essence of the
month is not just physical it is tawa so
in a sense that you know through the the
the the uh gaining of the consciousness
of Allah we are able to uh fulfill our
Islam and so this month is really um a a
month of striving it is a a month of
spirituality uh it is a month in which
we're able to improve our lives and to
and to come together with our brothers
and sisters throughout the world uh in
this beautiful fast and to really uh
increase our tawa to increase um our
level of Islam and inshallah we can gain
success in this life and the
Hereafter the relationship in between
fasting and controlling On's desire is a
very direct and correlated one if you
were to look at the advice of the
prophet wasallam and the advice he gave
to the young men who are unable to get
married he advise them to control their
desires through fasting and the wisdom
behind this is that an individual who is
thinking about food will not have time
to think about his other desires so
therefore when one is hungry and feeling
thirsty this is a natural instinct that
Allah subhana wa T gave us and it
overpowers the other desires so by
keeping oneself hungry and by keeping
oneself thirsty
one won't have time to be distracted by
other desires and this was the advice of
the Prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam so
fasting it helps controls one's uh
physical desires as well as other
desires as well and this is what we hope
to attain through the Blessed month of
Ramadan that one controls their physical
urges through the day and is allowed to
fulfill them during the night with their
spouses when you break your fast there
are some very very good reasons why you
shouldn't
overeat um of course on the top of those
reasons is that the prophet
sallallah warned us in general and not
just in Ramadan but this is generally
true at any time he warned us about
overing in fact the prophet sallallah
alaihi wasallam said that enough for the
son of Adam is what keeps his back
straight in terms of food it's enough
just to eat what keeps you alive but if
it happens that you have to eat more
than that then the maximum that you
should eat is a third of your stomach
for food a third for drink and the rest
should be as the prophet said left for
air so that is what the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam said is that
the normal habit for a Muslim should be
to only eat what is enough to keep them
going um there are some other reasons
why it's just not a good idea to eat a
lot in Ramadan of course of course it's
really not very healthy for you uh to OV
eat when you break your fast and the
other reason is it'll be very very hard
for you to concentrate on the night
prayers if you're really bloated all
you're going to be thinking about is the
pain that you're suffering in your
stomach and you won't be able to
concentrate on the
Salah
um is the night of power and Destiny and
we know that um in the chapter of the
itself that
Allah has revealed to
us that verily we have revealed this
Quran in the night of power and Destiny
and what will explain to you what the
night of power and Destiny is the night
of power uh is better than 1,000
months in it the Angels descend dealing
with all types of Affairs and jelam
descends and there is peace until the
coming of the Dawn and so this is a time
when there is absolute peace in the
spiritual world when the Angels descend
and and when the destiny of human beings
is being written you know and when um we
are able to gain uh the the pleasure of
Allah subh tala uh in a sense um in a
way that you will never see in any other
time of the year because you know as
Allah told us it is better than
1,000
months and this is an amazing our with
so this will give us uh for our prayers
and our fasting our Sak and all the
different aspects you know of our
striving you know in this night great
blessings and this would fall according
to the prophet peace be upon him you
know in the last 10 days the odd nights
of the last 10 days the strongest of
course the original is the 27th but we
will look for it in the 21st the 23rd
the 25th the 27th or the 29th and so is
a time of prayer it is a time of
struggling it is a time of worship it is
a time of reaching out to the Creator um
you know it is a time that we should not
miss and and we should strive you know
to get as close as possible to Allah
subhana wa tala in this blessed
occasion one of the reasons why many
people choose Ramadan as a time to give
zaka is because first of all
it's very easy to remember that that is
the time to give zaka zaka is one it is
very very important that zaka is
paid on its time it is one of those acts
of worship actually is many acts of
worship that should not be delayed and
uh when one does delay paying one's zaka
it deprives your wealth of a lot of
blessing so therefore it's very
important to choose a date that you can
remember and what better time than to
choose a specific date in Ramadan also
many people choose Ramadan as a time to
give zaka because it is a month of
blessings where the benefit of Deeds are
increased so a lot of people choose
Ramadan as a time to give zaka because
of the increased rewards and blessings
of giving charity at that
time so the compulsory fast in Islam is
actually one of the pillars of Islam
that Islam lays its foundation upon the
Blessed month of Ramadan is a month that
Allah subhana wa T revealed the Quran in
and this is the month that Muslims they
fast the whole month so starting from
sunrise to sunset they will not eat or
drink or fulfill any of their physical
desires likewise they will not uh incur
any form of sin and abstain from any
form of sin and any sin that they do
commit is actually multiplied just like
any good deed that they perform during
this time is Multiplied as well so to
summarize the compulsory fast Before
Sunrise you're allowed to eat and drink
as much as you like and the second thean
for f is given then an individual
abstains from eating and drinking and
from physical relations during this time
from sunrise to sunset it is encouraged
that one performs extra good deeds
recitation of the Quran um you know
goodness towards one's parents
righteousness towards one's neighbor
what any any other form of Good Deeds
that you can perform during this time is
highly encouraged as
well um the really is the culmination of
the month of the fasting and and this is
the festival you know of the breaking of
The Fast and uh it is a time when
Muslims come together and uh they
celebrate you know the their struggle of
the month they're able to reunite with
their family members they they reach out
to the poor um they are able to uh bring
together the community um it is
important on this time that all the
members of the family come out to the
occasion of the Eid and the prophet Sall
wasam would pray in the Mah and he would
ask his companions even young uh girls
you know um on their monthly courses
come out you know to the masalah it's
not a Masid you know witness you know
this Gathering of the Believers so you
know in a a sense you know it it is a
time that you connect uh with the whole
community and the Imam uh at that point
should be delivering a message you know
which would Inspire the people remind
them of tawa you know you know making
prayers for them and you know
celebrating with them you know the great
triumphs of the month of Ramadan so so
it is so important you know that people
look upon this occasion you know as a
sacred time you know and and something
that the children will always look
forward to in many countries these
people do not give emphasis to the eats
they will give more emphasis to secular
holidays and secular vacations but these
are the times that the prophet peace be
upon him and his companions would make
their ters loudly in the streets you
know the whole city is is filled with
joy and sharing and giving and all the
people are eating food so it is a time
that we need to come together and we
need to fulfill the needs uh of the poor
and the needy uh during this time eedle
f um you know has become for some people
in distant parts of the world it is a
means of survival because it is really a
time you know when the community puts
together its food it it puts their hand
their hands together you know and the
community is able to maintain uh its
culture uh in distant lands and so the
eedle F has so many meanings uh to
people and it is so important for
Muslims and especially
those in the younger generation uh to be
part of this International celebration
where people all over the planet you
know are literally breaking their fast
and they are coming together on this
occasion so I pray that this would be a
successful one for the Muslims
throughout the world and in it we will
gain the the blessings of Allah asael
and freedom uh from the
fire on the outside everything looks
good you see the $100,000 CS you see a
lot of diamonds you see a lot of females
and they think that this is you know
this is a life this is this is like you
know Paradise right here on
Earth it's not anyone's job to go into
someone's heart and change their heart
your job is to tell people what the
truth is the reality of it is while
we're sitting here while I'm sitting
here constantly paying for the disease
The Cure was
free us
from Islam which means to acquire peace
by submitting your entire self to the
owner of Peace the one God the same God
of Noah Abraham and the last and final
Messenger s to mankind of prophet M
peace be upon Him Islam is based on
these five pillars and fasting is one of
them but before we can get to even
fasting you got prayer and you also have
the main pillar which is to worship none
but the one God to worship the same way
all the messengers of God worshiped they
didn't worship men monkeys Saints and
elephants they worshiped the creator of
man monkeys Saints and elephants that
God who created the Sun and the Moon who
created this whole universe and
everything in it that God is to be
singled out from his creation and he is
the only one to be worshiped the one God
and then you need to obey the messenger
and the last final
messenger is Prophet Muhammad peace be
upon us and then we come to the fasting
fasting was prescribed it was prescribed
to those before us so we may attain God
Consciousness so we can become more
Pious righteous and to develop ourselves
to be the best human beings that we can
possibly
be a great emphasis has been placed in
Islam on how we
eat uh how much do we eat that
moderation as a general
principle is the framework in which all
of our practices should
be and in particular in the area of
eating because eating represents one of
the most basic desires of human beings
it's driven by the need for
survival and above that the desire for
the pleasure of food this is a a great
uh pressure that all human beings face
which is fed of course by the media uh
the lovely foods and things that are
prepared is huge businesses and
everything behind it all of which which
drives people to overeat whereas from an
Islamic
perspective
keeping our uh principles
applied in our daily lives require that
we eat in moderation and Prophet
Muhammad may God's peace and blessing be
upon him did address this 1,400 years
ago he spoke about this concept and he
said that the believer eats as if he has
or she has one stomach the disbeliever
as if they have seven this is a because
there are no rules no guidelines which
controls how much they should eat so
they can eat till they are sick but for
the believer no he eats as if he has
only one stomach and in that one stomach
the prophet may God's peace and blessing
be upon Him added further clarification
by saying that the believer should eat a
third drink a third and leave a third
for
breathing that we should never actually
fill the stomach in fact the prophet
wasallam added to that that the worst
thing worst vessel that a human being
can fill is his stomach or her stomach
so even the concept of filling the
stomach is not uh within the bounds of
Islamic law and Islamic life and culture
so moderation in all things and
especially in
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eating even after the month of Ramadan
the prophet may God's peace and
blessings be upon him had recommended
for Muslims that they fast an additional
six days from the month after it known
as
shaal any six days this fasting the
prophet recommended may God's peace and
bless be upon him saying that one who
fasts for the six days along with
Ramadan gets the reward of fasting the
whole year because in general General
principle in Islam is that one day of
fasting or one good deed is equal to 10
so 30 days is 300 days six more days
makes 60 days 360 days we've covered the
year also besides that Prophet Muhammad
wasallam recommended that we fast every
Monday and Thursday
every Monday and Thursday of every week
he also recommended that we fast the
13th 14th and 15th of every lunar month
these are the days of the full moon and
also the 10th of muharam the first uh
month of the lunar calendar on the 10th
we're recommended to fast so the
principle of fasting is something which
continues throughout the whole year
because the benefits that one stands to
gain from it are not limited to only a
particular time of the year so in Islam
fasting is a way of
life the month of
Ramadan is the month which we are
fasting but why Ramadan why this ninth
month why because Allah God Almighty
stated in the Quran Shah
Ramadan the month of Ramadan in which
the Quran was revealed so Allah has
linked the revelation of the Quran with
Ramadan this was a blessed month this is
where the final revelation of God to
humankind
began as such that month was given the
special status to be the month of
fasting so so Ramadan is a month of
Quran this is how Muslims generally look
at it and that's why you find that
Muslims will try to read the whole Quran
during this
month although reading of the Quran
should be throughout the year but
especially in this month it was the
practice of the Prophet may God's peace
and blessing be upon him to recite the
whole of the Quran from beginning to end
during this month people learned the
Quran from him in this way they
memorized it
they wrote it down in this period so
this month has the special significance
the special importance in that the Quran
the final revelation of God to man took
place in this
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month the main purpose of fasting in
Islam has actually been defined by God
in the Quran it's not left up to human
beings beings to philosophize as to why
do we fast Allah very clearly said in
the second chapter of the
Quran fasting has been prescribed for
you as it was prescribed for those
before you in order that you be
conscious of God that you gain what is
called tawa
tawa meaning an awareness and a
consciousness of God so this is the main
goal of fasting how ises that achieved
when one becomes hungry what is the
relationship between that and God one
could say well you become hungry you're
concerned about food that would bring
you closer to food or being more
concerned about food but no because of
the fact that people are choosing not to
eat food of course if you're if you're
hungry because food is not available
then your main concern is going to be
food when you decide yourself not to
eat now you're not eating because this
is a commandment of God and who knows
whether you eat or you don't eat only
God because you can always slip away
when people are not watching you and eat
something you can have things in your
pocket things in your office people
don't know apparently you're fasting but
in fact you're not so therefore this is
something what stops you from fast from
not eating is your consciousness of God
so this heightens your Consciousness as
you have the desire to want to eat you
remember you've made this commitment to
God so this helps to bring you closer to
God and be to be aware of God throughout
your life I mean this is the goal this
is the main goal to be conscious of God
because the goals of fasting the main
goal of fasting is consciousness of God
it makes sense then that this principle
must have
existed with the religion of God from
the very beginning when God prescribed
the religion for the first human beings
Adam and Eve part of that prescription
would have been fasting because the need
to be conscious of God is not something
which only came along you know
1,400 years ago how many thousands of
years after the time of Adam and Eve no
that is a need which existed right from
the very beginning and that is why P
fasting has been prescribed all along
and this is what Allah has stated in the
Quran as it was prescribed for those
before you and that is why we find in
Judaism in
Christianity fasting existing even in
Hinduism Buddhism and the various other
religions it's there our belief of
course is that the origin was one
religion Islam what we now know as
Buddhism or Christianity or Judaism
these were uh deviations and we could
say a Corruption of the original message
what was retained in that corruption is
fasting but the original message was one
the religion of
Adam was Islam so was the religion of
Moses of David of Jesus of Muhammed may
God's peace and blessings be on all of
them fasting benefits on a variety of
different
levels on the ritual level
uh where a person just fulfills the
basic requirements of not eating from
dawn until
sunset there is an element of discipline
there that one disciplines one's life
when one takes a hold of one's life and
sets a period of time when they're not
going to eat it gives them a sense of
control this ritual practice gives them
a sense of control over life and this is
something important because for a lot of
people when they fall into
depression it is a result of them
feeling that life has slipped out of
their hands the control over their lives
lost so this can help even in people who
are in states of depression that's why
fasting has a benefit even to those who
are depressed that it helps to give them
a sense of control which they're losing
but that's on the ritual level and of
course this is really only beneficial if
we take that ritual level to the spirit
to to the physical level that this is
really only beneficial if the person
follows the principles that the prophet
may God's peace and blessing be upon Him
set
because though the rule says you don't
eat after
Dawn and you eat at
Sunset now people may
eat huge meals for the dawn
meal they may eat full meal so that they
fill themselves up and then they spend
the rest of the day their bodies are
just digesting this food till finally
digestion process ends just
before just before the time to break the
fast and then they go and they break the
fast again with full meal all the way
until the morning so they don't
experience hunger at all they've
fulfilled the letter the ritual letter
of the law but they haven't really
fulfilled the spirit so the spirit is
and requires a light meal for should be
a light meal very light meal so that
during the day of fasting one
experiences hunger because most of us
never experien hunger really the hunger
pangs where we feel pain in our stomachs
you know because we want you know it's
empty we want some food to experience
that hunger Pang is an important part of
fasting because what it does is it gives
us a sense
of empathy and sympathy for those who
are feeling those same pangs of hunger
not because they chose not to eat but
because there's no food to eat
so when one experiences that they have a
sense of of
emotional and uh psychological
connection with those who are suffering
that not by choice and hopefully that
would then motivate them to want to
share with those who don't have anything
to eat so even on on that physical level
where the fast is done according to the
principles of the prophet God's peace
and blessings be upon him then one
benefits from that uh experience of
hunger maybe for the first time in their
lives or first occasion in the year or
whatever they experience it and can
relate to those who are experiencing it
starving around the world because
otherwise normally people talk about the
starving millions and it's just an idea
it's just a thought yes people are
starving but what does it mean to starve
if we haven't experienced that hunger
real hunger then it's difficult really
to sympathize and be motivated to want
to sacrifice for them so here is a
benefit a real practical benefit from
fasting in the correct
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way
another of the benefits that come
actually from the physical level of
fasting as medical experts have pointed
out that when a person fasts it affects
the
endomorphin system in the body that it
causes the brain to produce more
endomorphins which are the basic
elements which cause us to feel good you
know where we uh feel a sense of
well-being
this is from the production of
endomorphins in the system fasting
causes the body to produce more so it is
good in terms of giving a person a sense
of feeling good and again for those
people who are depressed this is very
very
important also medical experts have
pointed out that fasting causes the body
to start to consume the cholesterols so
it reduces the level of cholesterols in
our systems and as those people who are
involved D in weight loss and weight
gain and all these type of things
dieting and that they know it a lot of
it is related to cholesterol so uh
fasting has been employed by many of the
various dietary systems in order to to
uh decrease weight in Islam I mean our
main goal is not to decrease weight I
mean because you shouldn't have gained
weight in the first place and where
people have have warped the practice of
Ramadan uh where it becomes a month of
feasting instead of fasting you find
people ending the month kilos more than
they started the month of course that
that's because they've they've
misunderstood they are not following the
principles they're following the ritual
but not the true spiritual uh guiding
principles in fasting so what weight
loss takes place and there should be
weight loss what weight loss takes place
is healthy weight loss
it's not fasting to an extreme where it
starts to become damaging to the system
but fasting in a controlled way where it
is beneficial to the
system fasting also affects human beings
on the libidinal level where are desires
for sexual
relations one of the basic drives that
all human beings
have put in us for reproduction and
procreation it has a place but where the
media and uh the world pumps this up to
the point where we break laws and we are
involved in all kinds of corruption
fasting helps to gain control of this
give people a sense of control over
their physical desires and that's why
the prophet may God's peace and blessing
be upon him had said oh young people
those among you able to get married
should get
married those who are not able should
fast because it breaks the
desire it is a means of
decreasing the sexual desire fasting has
that effect so a person who fasts on a
regular basis then he or she has
a good handle on their life they have
control over the natural desires so
they're not driven by the natural
desires into a state
of animal
existence unfortunately this is what has
happened to much of the world where
people are just driven by desires so
fasting helps to put desires back under
human control especially sexual desires
because of course we know fasting is not
permitted uh sexual sexual relations is
not permitted during the daylight hours
of fasting so one may have the desire
but one puts a cap on it because of the
Fast and the fast helps to reduce the
desire especially the last 10 days when
the prophet may God peace and bless and
be upon him had recommended that we
seclude ourselves in the mask where we
don't even even involved even in the
nights in sexual relations so onethird
of the month we're encouraged also to
leave it all together just for that
period to gain a greater sense of
control over one's
desires coming to the truth requires two
things it requires deep thinking that
you've already done but it requires
another step and that's courage if you
have the truth but you don't have
courage you won't stand up for the truth
and that's as good as standing up for
falsehood
I I would say this thing that you just
told me it's not in the scripture and
they would say a marginal note added by
a scribe yeah okay we know that and I'd
be thinking if you know this is not the
Bible why are you preaching it as if
it's gospel
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truth fasting also has an emotional
Dimension among the biggest or
greatest uh drives that we have in an
emotional level is
anger um and we express our anger by
speaking ill of people by shouting by
you a variety of different ways fasting
helps us to gain control over it because
the prophet may God's peace and blessing
be upon him it said that one who doesn't
control his tongue or her tongue so that
they are backbiting telling lies
screaming shouting Etc then he said God
has no need for their
fast there's no reward in that
fast so if one is not able to control
one's emotions during the fast then in
fact one has nullified the value of the
fast so the fast challenges us on a
variety of different levels and this
emotional level is a very critical level
because isn't it where emotions go crazy
run arai that we end up killing
hurting
screaming the a lot of the the crime or
the the the uh abuse or these kind of
things that happen in society it's
coming for on an emotional level people
who lack control over their emotions so
fasting addresses this topic this issue
directly if one is serious about fasting
then they must put a handle
on
this and fasting during this blessed
month of Ramadan the same way that all
the messengers of God they all fasted
but they also worshiped one God they
didn't worship multiple gods they didn't
worship a Triune God they didn't worship
a man God they didn't worship a monkey
god they didn't worship dead people in
Graves they didn't call upon Saints and
idols and you know it was the same way
of life that way of life that called
call the person to acquire peace by
submitting yourself entirely to the
owner of Peace who the owner of peace is
the one who created this whole planet
you me who created Jesus Moses and the
last and final messenger sent to mankind
the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him
they all worship the Creator and not
what he created and they all prayed the
same way we're praying falling on their
face we fall on our face we
prostrate to the one God not to his
creation and we fast and we fast because
that helps us in so many ways so many
ways there's so much wisdom behind it
you feel what it is to be
hungry you develop yourself to have
better character better manners and so
many other wonderful
things on a psychological level fasting
plays a major role in training the human
being in principles of patience we're
living in a society where immediate
gratification is a premium everybody
puts a premium on it you want to be to
find whatever you want immediately
whatever you desire it should happen now
this sense of immediacy that we have
which is urgency so fasting helps to
settle things back down down put it in
its proper place be patient be able this
is this this are good life's we could
say life skills you know emotional
psychological life skills which
everybody needs to develop fasting
promotes it because there is no
immediate gratification you fast you
have to wait till the end of the day
before you can eat you know so it
teaches you to delay you can wait you
get a sense of of control R over your
life again in the sense of not having a
burning desire for immediate
gratification so this is very very
important because of the nature of the
society in which we live today which has
promoted this concept of immediate
gratification to the highest possible
level so people have no
patience fasting teaches
patience
among the things which people are often
plagued with is the desire for the
things of this world that we become so
attached to life in the sense of the
material life that we can't find a sense
of contentment we're always after this
and after that and after the other when
we've gotten this then we want that when
we've gotten that we want the other
that's life we're just driven running
run from Pillar To Post after the
material things of the life fasting
helps us to detach to detach us from the
material
life why because food is one of the most
basic elements of material
life we can do without a house but we
can't do without food so it is a basic
drive so where we're able to put it
aside this helps us to detach ourselves
from the worldly life so it doesn't
become the Beall and the end all for
everything that there are some things
which are higher and greater spiritual
issues which go beyond who we are who is
our creator what is our relationship
with that Creator what is our purpose
here in life These are bigger questions
that we need to address and we don't
need to be blinded by our needs and our
desires for the worldly life where we
lose track of the more important aspects
of our life so fasting then helps us to
detach not to detach ourselves totally
because of course this
is suicide we're not trying to kill
ourselves when fasting no we are only
trying to reduce our
attachment and that is very very
important
for us to really find contentment in
this
life fasting also
addresses a spiritual need that we have
which is salvation from
sin one of the ways and the means by
which we can remove Sin from ourselves
is true
fasting the prophet may God's peace and
blessing be upon him had said that
whoever fasts Ramadan
sincerely Allah will forgive their
previous sins so it is a means of
erasing
sin it doesn't mean of course that
people say well okay I'm going to be a
sinner for the next uh 11 months and uh
when Ramadan comes along I'm going to be
a good Muslim and fast and so my sins
are all forgiven and I can be a sinner
for the next 11 no no it doesn't work
like that because if we are deliberate
Sinners for those 11 months with the
plan to remove the sin during Ramadan
what's going to happen is we're going to
be sinners in Ramadan it's not going to
do the job this is about sincerity
whoever fasts Ramadan sincerely you
can't fast Ramadan sincerely and then
plan to sin for the next 11 months this
just doesn't go together I mean on paper
you can put it down or you can say it
but reality is not the case so so a
person who as human beings we commit
sins we have errors we try to turn back
to God seek his forgiveness Etc
throughout the year in this month where
we're sincerely fast it helps to erase
whatever we are unable to
erase if we're sincere sincere with the
fast so it has this purifying quality to
it fasting in Ramadan erases the sins of
the previous
so on this level on the spiritual level
fasting plays an important role in
giving a person a sense
of becoming
pure removing from
oneself sin corruption and evil moving
towards goodness this is a spiritual
need which we all have and the prophet
may God's peace and blessing be upon on
him had said that one who fasts through
Ramadan and didn't get his sins
erased he
has played with the fast the fast is not
a real
fast this is an opportunity which a
person has which no one can afford to
let go so it's very important for us
when we go into the fast of Ramadan as
Muslims we should be very sincere and
very careful about this month as
non-muslims of course a person is not
obliged to fast this month but to
experience what it is like I would
encourage you find
out experience and see the benefits that
can come from it
fasting is prescribed by God for all of
humankind only Muslims are really doing
it now but it was prescribed for all of
humankind Islam is a religion which puts
great emphasis on communal worship that
we worship God together we see it in our
daily prayers we gather together in the
mosques and we pray
the Hajj where people gather together
and make pilgrimage to Mecca fasting
also is a
collective act of worship we fast
together though individually it's
between the individual and God in the
end it's all man and God woman and God
you know and as an individual we have to
reconcile ourselves with God
but that individual Act is strengthened
and supported by the
collective participation of the society
as a whole and that's what fasting in
the month of Ramadan is the rest of the
recommended days are up to individuals
you fast maybe collectively with your
family or maybe only you yourself or
whatever but at least once in the year
for that full month of Ramadan the whole
of the Muslim world fasts together it is
a collective Act of worshiping God it
reminds us of the collective that we are
a part and parcel of one human race who
have a responsibility to worship God
Alone to worship God collectively and to
worship Him
individually so the collective act of
worship fasting
is emphasized in Islam by the sighting
of the
moon when everybody begins the fast the
sighting of the moon when everybody ends
the fast and then after the fast itself
the very first day the collective prayer
known as the Eid
prayer and the giving of zakat which is
Charity given at the end of The Fast all
of this is done collectively so it is a
part of the
sharing the feeling
of fasting and coming close to God
together which heightens that overall
feeling in the individual fasting is a
collective Duty as well as an individual
Duty in
Islam grow then everybody watch show are
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