Hi everyone!
Today I’m celebrating Eid al-Fitr with my family. This celebration is an important one for all Muslims as it marks the end of Ramadan. Ramadan is the time of the year when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk to commemorate the revelation of the Quran. The fast requires one to refrain not just from eating, drinking, and sexual activities but from activities considered sinful in the faith—including gossiping, smoking, and lying.
Although I was born in a Muslim household, I did not grow up as a devout, practicing Muslim. (Which is to say I didn’t pray five times a day, as required by the pillars of Islam; I only visited a mosque about once a year, etc…) As I grew up, however, I found it incumbent upon me to gain a rich understanding of the religion. During my adolescence, I struggled a lot with my sense of self, considering the ostensibly mutually exclusive natures of my various identities. Islam, in addition to the other factors that have inevitably shaped my worldview, would be something I had to deeply understand in order to know myself and the state of our world.
In earlier years, I have always taken Ramadan as a time to learn about Islam in a didactic manner. I did this to to try to comprehend how the religion can be placed in current events. What does Islam have to say about women’s rights, family planning, the creation of the universe, war, and etc.?
This Ramadan and the last one, however, have been incredibly important for me because I’ve used the time to connect more spiritually with the faith. I’ve always been impressed with the way in which religion provides profound meanings to the lives of many people. As I make difficult decisions and face new challenges, I am also finding myself turning to faith to find answers to pressing questions. Certainly I haven’t turn to a full-fledged believer overnight. I still have many questions about the Islam and its tenets and I am continuing to investigate them.
Fasting itself has been quite fascinating. I truly enjoy doing it as an exercise in self control. So many aspects of life in the developed and highly-industrialized world are based on instant gratification that my patience level has declined significantly over the years. Fasting helps me curb many of the incessant instinctive emotions that fall prey to instant gratification. I’ve discovered, for example, that the feeling of hunger has often been only an illusion in my daily life. I certainly don’t deny that we need nutrition to survive! However, I often turn to food when bored or simply because I’m tempted by a delicious-looking dessert. Most days during Ramadan, I found that I hadn’t been physically hungry, but hungry because I had been denying myself something that I wanted.
Many people successfully execute the act of self-denial throughout Ramadan only to fall back into the vicious habit of over-consumption once the month is over. I hope that I can continue to apply the lessons I’ve learned during Ramadan throughout the year and to other disciplines. Maybe I can use the experience to help assuage my problems with chronic procrastination!