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RAMADAN; THE HOLY MONTH OF FASTING BY RAMESH PANDITA he holy month of Ramadan falls in the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar and is observed by Muslims all across the World. It is binding upon every Muslim, except the children, the infirm and the feeble, to observe fast, as a religious duty during the holy month and to show allegiance to the message of God in its entirety. Ramadan is a month when one can look for spiritual harvest with conviction. We are already in the middle of the holy month, which will culminate on July 07, 2016 with the celebrations of the Eid-ulFitr. Fasting, as we know is observed for both spiritual and scientific purposes, but it is social purpose, which is always being overlooked, perhaps the first step in this ladder, which leads to the fulfillment of scientific and spiritual purposes.
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SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE Fasting has been advocated across all religions, people belonging to different religious faiths observe fast in routine, and so do Muslims all across the world observe fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting is primarily observed and is seen as an act, whereby people refrain from eating and drinking. But, refraining from eating and drinking is not the real and the sole purpose of fasting. Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan has its own significance, which get better corroborated by the fact that if any individual for any reason misses fast on any given day has been called upon to observe fast for equal number of days even after Ramadan. Every noble soul and the observer of Ramadan in true spirit, knows it very well that fasting is simply a mundane way of making ignorant and disbelievers understand its real purpose, which ends up with spiritual wedding.
Fasting is a movement from physical to spiritual being and spiritual beings never indulged into worldly or mundane desires. The practice of fasting in Indian subcontinent is generally observed for religious reasons, hence, a reason for greater reverence, with more disciplined observance. The religions, which advocate & uphold the philosophy of fasting, not only talk about refraining from eating and drinking for physical well being, but for their spiritual and mental well being as well. People observing fast get engrossed into the purification of their soul, heart and mind. Even the very fundamental idea of indulging into any righteous or religious act serves a sense of satisfaction in its own way and what to talk about the pleasure which one draws after indulging into all such acts or practices. Fasting, if on one hand signifies the self control and purification of thoughts and actions on the other hand it equally signifies that a human being should show restraint in all walks of life. Fasting doesn't mean that one should remember the God the most in the month of Ramadan or while fasting, but at every step of life. Fasting is not about being rational on a particular day and to have the liberty of being irrational on the other day. Fasting is about developing stamina and endurance of self control and self control is not about holding one's horses from entering into the arena, but about pushing oneself on the path of righteousness. During Ramadan one must be so selfdisciplined that knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, overtly or covertly, one's acts or actions should not hurt anybody. Language should be soft, polite and sweet enough to please everyone. Words about each other's well being should be exchanged warmly. Fasting is about leading a disciplined life, to uphold human values, to extend a helping hand to the needy and deserving, to shun ill will and conveys the message of human value in its entirety. People should observe every caution to not to
indulge in any undesirable action or activity. Putting restraint over the variety of delicacies, which God has created in different forms and the pleasure we seek while rejoicing such delicacies, such restraints signify the human self control over his/her most cherished love, we strive hard for. This restraint or self control by no means is actually limited to the feeding of the human body. The moment we put restraint over the feeding of our mortal bodies, is the moment we actually begin feeding our immortal souls and this is when and where the process towards the purification of our heart, mind and soul begins. Fasting helps to develop God consciousness through spiritual experiences, a step nearer towards the transformation from human to humane. It's the time to refrain from all such wrong and ill desires, which have somewhere become the reason for both social and mental unrest in the modern day life.
SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Physical well being is a prerequisite for the spiritual well being. There is no denial of the fact that one can seek the God in the best state of health and happiness. Scientifically, it has been proven that fasting helps to keep once body and mind in perfect state of health. Refraining from eating and drinking at regular intervals of time by observing fast, helps in its own way to rejuvenate & revitalize once body and mind. Fasting helps in the detoxification of the body, the worn out tissues and cells of the body get repaired, even one can find improvement with chronic disorders. Fasting is an act of the overhauling of the complete body. Even there is a belief that people who fast the most, live for longer periods of time. Even one should be very moderate while breaking the fast. Normally it has been observed that people tend to eat a lot after breaking the fast, this overeating takes toll on the human body in its own Email:
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Spade a Spade JULY 2016
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way and the foremost symptoms of being overfed is about not being be able to show interest in routine activities. The moment we overfeed our body after fasting, we defeat the very basic bodily purpose of fasting. In a routine day life, one should be very abstemious in eating. One should eat only when one feels hunger and if there is no appetite, never force yourself to eat, because you don't want to miss your meal time. Though one should strictly observe proper meal timings but that does not mean one should eat even if there is no appetite. The digestive system should get the desired amount of rest, if it asks for so. Although during Ramadan people observe timings for breaking fast, but it is advisable that until you do not feel hungry, do not break the fast. Though one can have a glass of water or juice etc to break the fast as a ritual, but it should not be necessarily followed by a wholesome food. Avoid eating any solid diet unless you feel like having it. People, who force themselves into the practice of fasting and food being their weakness, should not entertain the thoughts of food. During the prolonged fasting of Ramadan, the digestive system become weak, and taking heavy & hard foods can turn out to be a cause of worry. It takes the body a while to renovate and invigorate the digestive powers.
SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE Any individual observing fast, but carrying ill will about others, is far from the path of righteousness. People while fasting if look down upon the poor, downtrodden or the people belonging to other faiths as untouchables, defeats the very basic purpose of the fasting by all means. Fasting should never be aimed with the lone motive of seeking bliss for self, but for the whole living kind. It should be about remembrance of God, through His created beings. Any maltreatment to any living being is bound to displease God. Fasting is about shunning the practice of bad habits, which helps one to move to an improved stage in routine life. How so secret our actions may be, how so right and religious we may pretend to be, but one cannot keep them secret to one's inner-self, which manifests the presence of God. By pretending better, one may try to deceive others, but the fact is, by doing so one actually is deceiving his/her innerself. We seek reprieve from our sins, we pledge to be on the path of righteousness, but if our conduct and behavior is not consecrated, observing fast won't serve any purpose. Fasting is about killing one's ego. Thoughts should get firm and sublime. Ramadan is not only about refraining from the wrong we do in our routine
life, but also to repent for the bad deeds of our past, with a solemn pledge to refrain from all wrong doings in future, as well. The month is about doing charity with generosity, whereby people should extend all possible help to the needy and deserving and to show solidarity with poor and downtrodden. The irony is, that majority of the people limit this caution and refrain themselves from ill wills during the period they observe the fast and forget about the real message that this practice of self discipline and restraint over desires is to be actually carried forward in a routine day life. People should understand that the holy month of Ramadan is simply the first step in the direction of purity and spirituality, which a devote believer is supposed to carry forward and follow all his life. A sizable portion of people observes fast more out of awe, rather of true reverence. Observing fast is a free will of every human being and to force any non observer to enter into the practice of fasting is more like pushing a blind man to see the manifestations of God. Those who observe fast during the holy month of Ramadan against their will, is as good a sin as not observing the fast. Nobody should force the non observers to observe fast despite knowing very well its social, scientific and spiritual significance. ■
