With the coming of the holy Ramzan month, believers would start spending their days in austerities and nights in long prayers and continue so for a month. This is a time when the benevolence of the creator would abound on earth. In addition to attending to their religious duties, the time would also be well spent by believers to cater to their social commitments. In addition to enhancing religious harmony, Ramzan also solidifies personal rapport and family relations.
Out of the five pillars of Islam, Ramzan austerities are the fourth. The other four are: belief in a single God, daily prayers, charity and Haj pilgrimage. To a believer, these five pillars form the framework of life and provides a blueprint for his or her progress in life.
A daily requirement expected from all believers is the prayers, which are offered five times a day. The prayers provide a means to bring back the mind, which could have strayed because of various attractions, to the path of righteousness. Charity offers a chance to give back to society and Haj reminds one that life is ephemeral.
Ramzan is the victory of mind over the body. For instance, when the mind is able to force the body to renounce the most favourite dish, it establishes its control over the body. Similar is the case with other sense organs. The body would be attracted to many things and such attractions could tempt the body and mind. Only when the mind is controlled, does it get strengthened and prevails over the body.
Medical practitioners believe that fasting is good for the body. It could be so. However, the Ramzan fast is not something that is undertaken to keep the body fit. In fact, fasting provides insight into the value of total surrender to the creator; it is obedience without questions and total submission to what is ordained by the Lord.
Obedience is usually due to fear, respect or selfishness or a combination of all these. However, when it comes to Ramzan, fasting is because of pure obedience, without expecting anything in return.
In the current circumstances, fasting highlights the value of food. Perhaps we might not appreciate the value of the food or the intensity of hunger when we have lot to eat. When fasting, we understand the value of food and the happiness that it brings. That is the time when we become obliged to the Lord for giving us our daily bread. If food was scarce some decades ago, people have now become haughty because of surplus food. Three years ago, the message for the World Environment Day was 'Think, East, Save.' Even when many people go without food in this modern world, one third of the food that is made each day is being wasted. In fact, some rich nations waste more food than what is needed by some poor nations for sustenance. Hunger takes the lives of millions of children every year around the world.
During Ramzan, we need to understand the value of food, be thankful to God for giving us food and waste no food. Whenever you feel like wasting food, understand that it could have saved the life of another person. Similarly, during Ramzan, do not cook too much food than what is required, because that breaks the inherent message of the holy fast.
Ramzan is a means to purify the soul, which resides in a body that is open to temptations around it. The Holy Quran underlines that the purity of the soul is victory while the vice versa is failure. Ramzan offers the best chance to purify the soul. That is a time which may be used to win over the body and move along the right path to ultimate victory.
(The author is the All Kerala Jam Iyathul Ulema general secretary)
