It’s a well known fact that fasting and the associated routine of extended prayers and extra ibadah (worship) begins to take its toll at some point during Ramadan. As much as a Muslim would love to retire to the comfort of a bed and slip into a deep slumber, there is simultaneously, an overwhelming desire to push on and maximise on the precious yet limited time that the month offers to earn plenty of reward.
To be honest, I’m sure like most of my Muslim counterparts, the physical tiredness actually does not come from fasting but from the nocturnal routine where the natural order of our daily lives is reversed. Sleep at night is a welcome luxury but always interrupted. That being said, there is an alacrity many Muslims experience in greeting the nights knowing that the chances of reward are multiplied. The sacrifice of sleep is worth it.
I write here during one of those precious nights of Ramadan. Perhaps some would argue that I could be spending my time pursuing better things – asking Allah for forgiveness, reading more Quran or performing an act of charity. But my account balance is a private matter and I know – and Allah knows – the condition that that balance may be in. I consider writing here as an indirect act of charity. Whilst it may appear I am distracted from overt acts of worship, I am actually using a few minutes of my time to help others understand that Ramadan is not a month of starving oneself with the goal of losing weight. Whilst the latter is a nice bonus, the month means much more than that. It’s about self-sacrifice in a myriad of ways. Unless one engages in fasting, by which they become physically enervated, they will never know how that ties in with the diminishment of the ego and thereby the realignment of the soul with the spiritual invigoration. SubhanAllah!
So, whilst I sit here in a tired state, I am humbled by the opportunity brought by this month to rejuvenate my spiritual being and realign my wordly pursuits with it. Never the other way around. This is one of the main secrets of Ramadan that needs to be propogated more widely. For this reason, I hope Allah accepts this week’s blog as an appropriate use of time. Insha’Allah.
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