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COVER STORY: Humility and self-control
We were all so concerned about Younus. The poor soul had not eaten for so long and we were all waiting, with jasmine and rose garlands to put around his neck, for the moment he took a sip from that glass of cool sherbat. He did finally and the whole room rejoiced. He was a hero — an instant celebrity!
I am not talking about some politician ending his hunger strike. Younus is an elder cousin and what I just told you is what happened on his Roza Kushai. Everyone was full of praise for Younus that day. I, too, wished to be treated with so much respect.
When I was really young and, I might add, quite stupid, my mother told me what happens during the month of Ramazan. “It is a Holy month full of blessings,” she told me “we wake up early, before dawn, each day and have a scrumptious meal, before the Fajr azaan. Then after saying our morning prayers we go about our daily chores as normal. If we feel hungry or thirsty anytime during the day we do not eat or drink; we read from the Holy Quran and pray to Allah for strength. We say all our prayers, too. When the sun goes down, we break our fast with all kinds of nice snacks. All this helps us feel good about ourselves since fasting during the month of Ramazan is a way to cleanse our body and spirit.”
What I was told sounded simple enough and since I was a finicky eater back then anyway, I thought I could and should fast. Also there was my Roza Kushai to look forward to. But my mother thought I shouldn’t fast until I learn to say my prayers. It was my wanting to fast and be considered a grown up that motivated me to learn how to say my prayers. And then when I was nine years old, I was allowed to fast for the first time. But like everything else, I bungled it up! I forgot I was fasting and ate half a bowl of Kheer. Why not the entire bowl? Well, thankfully I remembered half way through the disaster. And then I went crying to mom telling her what I had done. At first she suspected I was lying, that I had not really forgotten that I was fasting but had eaten to satisfy my hunger. But then I was given the benefit of doubt and was informed about something else, which I didn’t know. I was told that if I had really forgotten then the fast wasn’t broken. Well, thank God it wasn’t since I was really looking forward to my Roza Kushai.
The party took place at last but unlike my cousin who was something of a hero on his fast breaking ceremony, I became a clown! Well, what else do you call someone who causes amusement? Mom told everyone how I forgot that I had been fasting and ate Kheer. She didn’t even omit the part where I had gone crying to her. It was humility at its worst for me as some cruel guests pinched my cheeks and lovingly called me Bhooka Batcha!!!
Anyway, I didn’t make such a mistake again. The Ramazan of my first fast, I kept just one Roza but the following year I kept 15 and the year after that I fasted for the entire month! There was no stopping me. I was getting better and better. I was sure that the gates of heaven were going to open for me when I reached there. And this was when I did something wrong. I began to boast to my friends about what a great Muslim I was since I fasted more often than them. My uncle heard stupid old me saying such things one day and decided to have a talk with me.
“My dear child,” he said, “it is for us lowly humans to try and obey God’s commands but it is up to Him to accept or reject our offering. You should learn to be humble. God may not like your going around boasting like this. Religion is a very personal thing. What you do for your God is between you and Him. Someone may not fast because he is unwell or it may be something else that has kept him or her from fasting. You have no right to judge others. The next time you pray, ask for His forgiveness.” Oops! I had bungled once again.
People who fast are known as Rozedaars. You may have come across all kinds of Rozedaars. There are the lying sort — who say they are fasting but are not. God help them! Then there are the staunch ones who are intolerant of others who don’t fast, which is wrong since everyone has their own reasons and it’s a personal thing between a believer and his God. Thanks to me you have already been introduced to the boasters. God help them too!
There are also those who fast but forget to say their prayers. But prayers go hand in hand with the fasts. Without prayers, I am told, your fast is nothing but a hunger strike. Some weight conscious ladies do it to lose weight. And last but not least are those characters who are extremely conscious of the fact that they will have to go without food from dusk till dawn. At sehri they would gobble up no less than a dozen parathas along with as many glasses of milk. Such people usually get quite sick before the month is over.
Fasting has many rewards. You become more aware and conscious of your less fortunate brethren and their deprivation, which in turn teaches you to sacrifice your good fortune and assist others in need. You don’t just abstain from eating, you also stay away from other bad things such as using fowl language or losing your temper, etc. It’s all a lesson in self-control really and what better time to impose self-control on thyself than the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, in which the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him).
By imposing self-control, you prove your being above animals since they do not possess the art of self-control. Through fasting, praying and meditation you cleanse and purify your body and soul. Medically, it’s a way to detoxify yourself and give your digestive system some rest. Medical science has proven that fasting is a medicine for many bodily and nervous ailments.
When you spend Ramazan the way God expects of you, you would notice great changes in your life. You’ll gain spiritual strength, which will facilitate you to conduct your life according to Islam. But the immediate reward is just lying around the corner. Like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, you get to celebrate Eid immediately after Ramazan.
Fasting in other religions
Fasting is not prescribed in Islam alone. It has its significance in other religions as well. Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus also fast.
Catholic Christians fast during Lent, the period of 40 days that Hazrat Isa (AS) spent fasting in the wilderness. Like Muslims, Christians too fast to teach themselves self-control, to pay penance for their sins and to create within themselves a feeling of solidarity with the poor.
In the Jewish faith Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is an annual fast. Yom Kippur requires abstinence from food and drink for a 25-hour period, from sundown to sundown.
Buddhists usually practice fasting on full-moon days. Depending on the Buddhist tradition, fasting usually means abstaining from solid food. They do permit some liquids. Fasting here, too, is seen as a method for purification of the body and soul.
In the Hindu faith, fasting is commonly practised on new moon days and during religious festivals such as Shivaratri, Saraswati Puja and Navaratri. With a prayer for a longer and healthier life of their husbands, married Hindu women also fast on the day of Karva Chauth. Depending on the occasion, the fasts may involve 24 hours of complete abstinence from any food or drink or an elimination of solid foods, with an occasional drink of milk or water. Going hungry for so long is considered a sacrifice, which the Hindus gladly perform to please their gods. Fasting is also seen as a way to enhance concentration during meditation or worship and as a means of purification for the system. — SH
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