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Ramadan is the month that entails intensive self-discipline and self-control. The essence of Ramadan is placing the soul over the body in compliance with the command of the Creator, not only in external forms but also in attitude and behaviour. Ramadan demands the highest degree of commitment and is designed to achieve physical, moral and spiritual reconstruction as well as self-purification.
Ramadan has a great leveling influence—no matter how rich or poor, influential or subservient, high or low, all stand on the same terms of human equality. No submitter is superior to another on account of social status or because of wealth, race or colour differences, but only on the basis of righteousness. [7:26] O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some of GOD’s signs, that they may take heed.
As much as Ramadan can be seen as an exacting procedure, it’s a gift for our souls, performed for a month every year to earn the pleasure of God. This annual exercise, consciously and voluntarily practiced, grows the soul. The righteous works wipe out the evil works (11:114). Fasting, particularly, is mentioned as a practice essential for our salvation. [2:183] O you who believe, fasting is decreed for you, as it was decreed for those before you, that you may attain salvation. When collectively undertaken one can see some ways how it can improve society and increase the quality of compassion in the community as a whole. As we experience hunger and thirst, God willing we’re more empathetic of our fellow beings’ plight. When we’re fasting we want to be on our best behavior lest we nullify the good to our soul. But, we shouldn’t just strive to be better while fasting; the positive effect on our character and conduct should last.
This month gives believers an opportunity to work on traits God wants us to observe like self-discipline, steadfastness, unity, fostering peace and mutual respect, etc. These are vital for our soul and material well-being. You need discipline to have strength for action.
Some people think that fasting is associated with mourning. This is certainly not true. The Quran makes it an instrument of moral, spiritual and physical regulation of the highest order. God says the act of fasting is a blessing and not a calamity. [2:185] Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed, providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the statute book. Those of you who witness this month shall fast therein. Those who are ill or traveling may substitute the same number of other days. GOD wishes for you convenience, not hardship, that you may fulfill your obligations, and to glorify GOD for guiding you, and to express your appreciation.
Compliance with this Divine injunction fosters the sense of willing obedience to God’s commands which is a sign of firm and true faith. It brings forth the feeling that a submitter has to serve only One Master. The real intention underlying the restraints and restrictions that fasting implies is total submission to the will of God. If we’re practicing submission, it means we’re practicing obedience, compliance, surrender, acquiescence, deference, consent and assent (to our Creator). By abstaining from what God forbids and obeying whatever He commands, believers reaffirm through performance what they profess.
God has enjoined fasting to enable us to overcome obstacles and attain righteousness, and ultimately salvation (2:183-189). If we merely follow the outward regulations that govern fasting without imbibing its spirit, without glorifying God for guiding us, and without expressing our appreciation to Him (2:185), then we may not get anything out of the fast except the pangs of hunger and thirst.
I personally feel that one should be reverent during fasting, and use it to increase one’s devotion;
it’s an opportunity to build our faith, piety, conduct and character. If we’re conscious of the Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscience of God through the fast, then this inculcates accountability in our life; God willing, we keep the Hereafter as our priority. If we sincerely believe and lead a righteous life, we will be rewarded by God in His infinite Mercy (34:4).
We must eat in order to survive. Eating is certainly not sinful from the spiritual point of view. But gluttony, eating or drinking too much, is harmful for the soul and the body. Both the Quran and the Bible warn us against this (e.g., Quran 7:31, Proverbs 23:2).
The fasting of Submitters in Ramadan is actually an exercise in self-discipline. For those who are heavy smokers or nibble food constantly or drink coffee every hour, it is a good way to break the habit, hoping that the effect will continue after the month is over. Seyam in Arabic means abstaining; i.e., abstaining from things that break the fast, from dawn until sunset, having first made the intention (niyyet) to fast.
The practice of fasting, as a key component of seeking salvation, has been part of Submission since the time of Abraham.
While Ramadan itself is not directly referenced in the Bible, we do see references to fasting. From the Old Testament:
Daniel 9:34 “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord God, and made my confession...
Esther 4:16 “Go, gather together all the Jews ... and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day ...”
I Samuel 7:5-6 “And Samuel said, Gather all Israel ... and they gathered .. and fasted ...”
Ezra 8:21-23 “Then I proclaimed a fast ... So we fasted and besought our God ...”
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