The power of Ramadhan

Each year, Muslims around the world await the holy month of Ramadhan.

The month of fasting is for giving to the poor and doing other good deeds. For many of us it is also a time to reflect on our life and where we are heading and detox from unhealthy habits that we accumulated over the years.

The shorter working hours and longer prayers makes us shift attention toward Allah the almighty rather than our daily quests in the materialistic world.

The spirit of Ramadhan is beyond giving up eating and drinking and other pleasures during the day, it extends to give us an opportunity to use the self power we gain from giving up eating and drinking even when one is hungry or thirsty as we surrender to Allah and count our blessings.

In Ramadhan we appreciate the feeling of the poor and we give them money in an act of empathy and kindness, the kindness that extends to be reflected in our behaviour in general. One becomes patient when waiting in the busy traffic or for his or her turn to pay at the supermarket check out point.

When dealing with people who are less patient than us and at some point may shout or behave in a rude way. We keep quiet, not because we are weak but we recognise it’s against the spirit of fasting to show aggression.

Islam tells us to say “Am fasting” as a form of self reminder that we should be more tolerant of each other. Sometimes Ramadhan comes during the hottest month of the year yet a true Muslim would not give into the temptation to drink water when no one is around because he is not fasting to impress others but to show surrender to Allah who rewards those who fast with a special place in heaven.

Modern science tells us that fasting is good for our mental and physical well being. I once came across an article about fasting clinics in Germany where people experiencing severe obesity are advised by their doctors to undergo a fasting schedule similar to what we do during Ramadhan and the impact of this programme in their weight loss is significant.

Yet the question remains, why do people revert to old behaviours once Ramadhan is over?

According to psychologists it takes around 21 days to adopt a new behaviour so this means by the third week of Ramadhan most, if not all, of us should have integrated Ramadhan’s programme into their lives, so what is going on?

In my opinion there are few factors that can explain this. First, the collective nature of Ramadhan, which means we are all doing the same thing, fasting, praying and living a more spiritual life as a group so we are kind of supporting each other.

Try fasting outside the month of Ramadhan while everyone is around and you will see the difference.

The second point is will-power and standing against temptation. During Ramadhan you feel stronger in the face of temptations so you keep on fasting even when you feel hungry because you fear god and respect the spirit of Ramadhan.

Having said that, once can still leave Ramadhan with positive changes in habits that can be adopted for longer, by God’s well.