A “taste” of Ramadan

Fasting is an instruction from God. Beyond the command, Ramadan creates opportunity to learn and relearn lessons. In colloquial terms, Ramadan gives time to reset oneself to “original factory setting”.

Example, give charity, be kind, talk and eat less and try not to irritate others etc. Obviously the big sins like harming others, is not going to help, when you are hoping to return to you “original factory setting”. Also, when you are hungry, physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted as Ramadan takes its toll, it is vital to note the condition of others who are literally in that condition year round.

The poor become more accessible as it is easier to relate to what the poor experiences. This is, one facet of many that Ramadan opens for study. Believers are advised to visit the sick, elderly and make amends with family and contacts they harmed knowingly or unknowingly. It is said that the believer that does not receive mercy and benefit from the month of Ramadan is a great loser as Ramadan is a time when the Creator’s mercy is closest to the person. Ramadan gives chance to accumulate spiritual credits and purge past burdens that cause harm to advancement in the spiritual realms.

In layman’s terms it’s like using your Pick n Pay Smart Shopper card or Clicks Club card an earning triple points and cash back on those special occasions. In Ramadan prays, charity and overall good actions get bonus points that outweighs the other 11 months of the year, give and take a day or two.

Oddly, when the Creator decreed fasting, it was qualified by stating that “fasting was prescribed to those before you”. This is why Jesus the Messiah, Moses and other prophets fasted and encouraged fasting. With time and since most people are lazy and fasting is difficult, people fled from fasting.

Perhaps non-Muslims must revise the historic advice of Jesus, Moses, David, Solomon and other’s regarding fasting. Stop thinking that Ramadan is a “Muslim thing”. Everybody from time to time drifts off from “original factory setting”. We all require a friendly reminder to get back on track.

To the curious few, try fasting a few days in Ramadan and witness what happens to your soul/spirit?

Your spirit may respond in a way that surprises you. With work and other tasks, less people spend time connected to their own spirits. We spend time and energy trying to understand the behaviour of others but rarely to understand ourselves. Ramadan is the best time to discover yourself as it is said that overall wickedness is restrained. What you witness in Ramadan is essentially what you are.

Cllr Yagyah Adams

Cape Muslim Congress

 

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