It's game time for Muslims. Not only is it the month of Ramadan, in which we abstain from food, water, sex and various vices during the daylight hours, but it is also the last stretch. Cue The Final Countdown.
The last 10 days of Ramadan are held to an even higher importance than the rest of the month because one of the evenings is believed to encompass the night that the Qur'an was first revealed to Muhammad over 1,400 years ago.
Although fasting may seem like a strange thing to do, there are reasons for it. Many people who do not follow the Islamic faith do not understand the importance of fasting, even though there are many reasons for participating in Ramadan, aesthetic and symbolic. To understand why this ceremonial month began, it is vital to understand the history behind it.
The story goes that Muhammad would often retreat into the mountains to meditate and walk away from the increasing moral decay of Arabian life - overconsumption, inter-group bickerings, ill treatment of women - the usual. You might say, he just really needed to get away from it all. Yet, it was on one of these solitary, austere retreats that God gave a message that thrust him back into the center of Arabian (and contemporary world) politics and society.
Ramadan not only instructs people to participate in civic life, but reminds them of why they do it, via fasting and the five daily prayers. Muslims don't have to live at Walden Pond for two years to abstain from societal indulgences and reflect.
In fact, seclusion and withdrawal from this world is actually discouraged in the Islamic tradition, while work and activism are looked upon quite favorably. Muslim scholars often tell how Islamic practices emphasize the need for regular spiritual conditioning. Fasting isn't about getting a spiritual high once in a while or that one life-changing experience. It is about creating a balance in one's life between faith and action.
That is what makes fasting tough. Seriously, if people tell you fasting is easy, they're either lying - which would break their fast anyway - or they're not doing it right. A typical Muslim day during Ramadan starts at 5 a.m. when we arise to eat before dawn and pray.
Remove food and water and throw in two more timely prayers - the remaining two are after sunset - and we are becoming more fatigued by the hour. As the day drags on, all I want to do is hide myself and collect my thoughts.
I'm confronted with further obligations to work and remain patient and pleasant with others. Frusturation might increase, but then I realize what my fast means to me. It's about struggling to control myself even when I have a handicap of fatigue and hunger. It is about understanding how difficult life must be for those who have no choice to give up food because they don't have any in the first place.
The Islamic tradition emphasizes that the struggle (jihad) that Muslims should focus on is within one's mind and soul. Controlling your desires and exercising self-discipline during Ramadan is just one example of jihad.
One of the most famous scholars of the Islamic tradition, Al-Ghazali, likens the heart to a mirror that reflects the Light of God. He states that only when one polishes the mirror through moral discipline can one find clarity and peace.
Often, this means pausing the daily routine in order to truly ponder life and one's priorities. It is about living modestly and understanding some people live their lives without material posessions, let alone food. Muhammad once said, What have I to do with worldly things? My connection with the world is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of a tree and then moving on.""
Rizwaan Akhtar is a junior majoring in psychology and Middle Eastern studies. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com
