Jedi Journal
OP - July 27, 2014, 10:18 AM
Whislt walking through town I bumped into a friend and we started chatting. She asked if I was fasting and I told her that I don't fast anymore. She was shocked and said 'I thought you were a wahabi. I think you're lying to me.' True, I used to be very religious, a literalist, a proto-dawahgandist but after some convincing she accepted my new lifestyle. Of course I didn't mention my apostasy and I was surprised to find out that she was curious as to why I didn't fast, which I've outline below.
But I've been thinking alot lately about fasting. You see, when I was living down south I was amongst non-Muslims and so fasting didn't affect me that much but now that I'm up North and amongst Muslim family friends it got me thinking about why I used to observed ramadhan. I got me thinking, really thinking...
I came across an article on fasting by Aminah Wadud on why she fasts - to sum, it brings joy, makes her humble and grateful for all the things she has e.g. the birth of her grandson. Really, a professor needs to starve herself for the best part of 18+ hours throughout 29-30 days in order to come to this realisation: Be humble and grateful for the things you receive?
Well I've got some advice for her: spend an hour a day, or even once a week, helping out in a homeless shelter or participate in any other community charitable activity and you'll most likely become humble and grateful for what you have. What's more is that that 'humility' and 'gratitude' will arise organically from your empathy with others and not from an 'obligation' or 'cultural expectation' to do so.
It makes me wonder though, when has depriving yourself of the essential things in life been considered a commendable act? We need water, at the very least, to survive. Depriving yourself of this at anytime, never mind the tortuous heat my friends and family have been bombarded with as of late, is wreckless. It need not be mentioned how ramadhan negatively affects one psychologically. It has great potential to make you lethargic, it makes you moody, it makes you irrational, it makes you hallucinate, all of which we would consider to be signatories of a poor lifestyle (or worse), yet some Muslims dare call this a - 'religious experience'. Not to mention the low productivity rates of most people fasting during the Ramadhan season and the health implications of not being allowed to eat or have medicine.
The situation becomes even more alarming when children partake in this event. They should be spared from this, if it is forced upon them, form of child abuse. No doctor would ever recommend a child disrupt their sleeping pattern, scoff down a plate of food early in the morning and go throughout the day without food and water - the tme when it is most necessary - only to scoff down more food late at night. As a teacher I see some of the students go through this ritual, and whilst I admire their passion, I am appalled by the parents who allow their students to sit in school, on the verge of passing out, becoming more and more grumpy as the day progresses. This makes me wonder, why haven't the Unions or the BMC come out in opposition to this?
Here's the thing that gets me the most. My Muslim family and friends will claim that fasting allows them to connect with the other Muslims around the world that are starving and therefore they will be rewarded for this charitable act in the hereafter. The very idea of this self inflicted torture being an attempt by Muslims in the developed world to relate to starving children in developing parts of the world is plagued with conceit and ignorance. For starters, those who are genuinely starving do not do so for a set number of days. They do not wake up in the morning have something to eat and go about the agonising process of starvation only to relieve themselves of this affliction at some arbitrary time in the late evening or night.
Secondly, there's a psychological element at play as the starving child finds no relief in the concept of iftari. They are deprived of the necessities of life, which those who are fasting have freely disposed of in the relative luxury of their lives seemingly to mock those in genuine need. Knowing that you can easily relieve your faux-pain by easily accessible food does not compare with the heart wrenching knowledge that you may never eat a full meal this day, that day or any other day, that you may die of starvation, and your children with you. For most Muslims starvation/fasting is a choice, but for millions of others it's not an annual competition or ritual but a lifestyle dealt by the cruel hand of fate.
Thirdly, I've heard this been said before by Muslims fasting themselves, but there are better ways to achieve the goals that fasting for 30 days aims to achieve. No, I don't want to hear your excuses about coming together or losing weight or making you a better person. There are many ways to do all these things wihtout endangering your physical and mental health. Here are some suggestions: Walk along the beach, go to the nearest park, smile at and talk to a stranger, help a person in need, attend a community event (gasp! mix with other cutlures and religions) and for goodness sake eat and drink in moderation.
Irrespective of all that has been said. Even if you disagree with the above. The fact is, when it comes down to it, that the only reason that you are fasting is because it is an 'obligation'. Allah commands that you fast and so you have to do it no matter what excuses you employ to rationalise your actions. From my perspective, I don't see how anyone can claim that ramadhan is anything but a primitive ritual that has long passed it's sell by date. And no you don't get brownie points nor bragging rights for doing something you're compelled to do as a Muslim. The fact that you are obligated to fast and 'be humble' or 'charitable' deprives it of any goodness you seek to superficially ascribe to it.
Enjoy your Eid tomorrow (or the day after).
Topic: Jedi Journal