Ramadhan, the month of fasting, has come to an end. For many amongst us, Ramadhan definitely comes as a blessing and provides us with an opportunity for self-introspection, self-restraint and self-purification. Yet there are quite a number, for whom Ramadhan is an annual ritual and again for quite a few, for whom Ramadhan becomes a sort of a food festival, the true spirit of fasting going to the winds.
This is the case with almost all religions.
Fasting, infact, is there in all religions.
Roza, 30 days of fasting in Ramadhan (Islam).
Upwas in shravan (Hinduism).
Fasting in paryusham (Jainism).
Fasting in Lent (Christianity)
Danjiki in (Buddisim)
Yom kippur in (Judaism).
God says in the Qur’ān, “O! You who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may develop (Taqwa) God-consciousness.” (The Qur’ān, 2:183)
Fasting, if done in true spirit, develops God-consciousness.
God-consciousness is not freeing ourselves from desires and shunning the world but it is infact living in the humble and tumble of this world and always remembering God.
“What is it that has made you ungrateful of your Lord? You were without life; it is He who gave youlife. It is He who shall cause you to die. It is He who shall raise you back to life. It is to Him that you have to return.” – (The Qur’ān, 2:28)
God-consciousness actually is learning to live every moment of your life in the presence of your Lord, the Master, the Creator and Sovereign of the universe before whom we all are accountable for everything that we do in this brief and transitory worldly life.
It is this attribute that helps us live as responsible human beings in this world, fulfilling our duties and obligations towards God, towards fellow human beings and towards God’s creations.
Ramadhan comes every year as a month-long training course in Desire Management and it inculcates in us attributes of Obedience, Accountability and Discipline, without which we can neither succeed in this worldly life nor in the life to come.
Fasting teaches us to harmonise our human will with the Divine Will so much so that there is no conflict with material and spiritual, body and soul, man and environment.
Fasting is not punishing the body but it is disciplining yourself, strengthening your mind and purifying your soul.
The fact cannot be denied that in the glitter and glamour of this world, many a time we get so obsessed with catering to the needs of our body that we leave our soul impoverished.
“Successful is the one who purifies his soul and he indeed is ruined who corrupts it.”(The Qur’ān, 91:9-10)
Truth, justice and honesty, kindness and generosity, patience and tolerance, forgiveness and sacrifice are the food and nourishment of the human soul.
Ramadhan provides us with an opportunity to enrich and purify our souls. Is it not a fact that our body takes pleasure in taking and receiving whereas our soul rejoices in giving and sharing.
Our body likes to avenge and retaliate whereas our soul exults in pardoning and forgiving.
Fasting in fact is the struggle of the human soul to draw nearer to God.
After all, the ultimate goal of every human soul is to complete its transitional journey in this worldly sojourn and reach its final destination. The destination of the eternal abode, where it meets its Lord in a state of bliss rejoicing in His presence and exulting in the realisation that its Lord is pleased with it.Fasting is a means to achieve this goal.
To the righteous soul will be said,“O thou soul in complete rest and satisfaction, come back to your Lord. He is pleased with you and you are pleased with Him. Join my devotees and enter my Heaven (eternal abode).” (The Qur’ān, 89:27-30)
It is time for each one of us to revive and resurrect the true spirit of religion so that our very existence and presence on this planet becomes a blessing to everything and everyone around us, and finally when we return to our Lord, we are able to attain His pleasure and be rewarded with eternal joy and happiness in the never-ending and everlasting life to come.