The Moral and Physical Benefits of Fasting in Ramadan

This is Day 16 of the #30Days30Writers 2016 Ramadan series.

By Seidu Malik

The month of Ramadan is once again upon us and millions of Muslims all over the world are fasting as a religious duty. It is worthy of note that before Islam came into existence, most of the world major religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity) already had different variations of fasting incorporated into their teaching and practices based on different days of the week or the calendar year.

That is, fasting itself is not entirely new to Islam, but the frequency of occurrence (it follows the lunar calendar) and the conditions or exemptions attached to it makes fasting in Islam unique than in any other faith.

Muslims and many scholars believe that the month of Ramadan is the period the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad as guidance for mankind. Interestingly, it was also within the same month that the 23 years of revelation ended, and therefore Ramadan forms very significant part of Muslim faith.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam that every able-bodied male or female Muslims with no medical condition or age related issue is expected to observe annually.

Some may argue that after fasting, individuals may tend to eat more to compensate for weight loss or that fasting may be inappropriate for kids and the elderly. Well the answer is that in Islam, moderation in everything, including food, is central to its teaching.

Therefore, the question of over eating does not arise. In addition, exemptions are given to sick people, pregnant women, nursing mothers, the elderly, young children and travelers in the holy Quran in accordance with current medical opinion.

So, fasting in Islam may not be after all a burden to an individual as some may suggest. Instead, each individual depending on physical strength and the state of their health may have the ability to undertake this exercise with all the medical precautions woven into it more than 1400 years ago.

Although fasting may appear harsh to many, the reality is that the moral and health benefit to individuals cannot be ignored. Morally, fasting should affect our affluent members of society’s sense of kindness, compassion and empathy towards the poor in society. Some affluent members in society will never experience hunger in their lifetime and thus will never empathize with a crying call of a poor man on the street or hunger-stricken people in some parts of the world.

By subjecting his or herself to suffer hunger for 30 days, such individuals may reflect and ponder over the plight of millions of people across the globe who live their lives under the shadow of hunger. Thus, one begins to appreciate the value of food and water and how much is needed for our everyday physical sustenance Ultimately and hopefully they begin to realize how blessed they are in society.

The science of medicine is not even far behind with the beneficial effect of fasting in the fight against obesity, cancer, metabolic diseases and ageing. To explain further, let’s consider this in our everyday working life. How often do we take days off for vacation to energize our body for improved concentration and efficiency at work?

Is it not right, therefore, to give our digestive system that has been processing food everyday time off to recuperate and to be efficient for better health of the body? Although the science of fasting in both humans and animal models are in its infancy, the few studies out there suggest that fasting have medical benefit if performed under medical supervision.

Finally, let’s look at the occurrence of the month of Ramadan with respect to seasonal variations (winter, spring, summer and fall) on Earth at any given time. As envisioned by Charles Darwin, the success of every living organism depends on its ability to survive extreme variations in environmental conditions. Therefore if fasting is intended for moral, physical and spiritual advancement, it is just and fair that every Muslim living in any part of the world is made to share the pain in relation to seasonal variations.

Clearly, this justice system cannot be established with our current solar calendar where the northern and southern hemispheres are in opposite seasons at any given time. It is only the lunar calendar, with no stationary dates, that evens out the seasonal variations in the Earth hemispheres and ensures that no one is favored or become worse off with fasting.

Despite the physical exhaustion of fasting, it could be one of the solutions to our current obesity and physiological diseases found in both developed and middle income countries of the world. From an evolution or adaptation stand point, fasting could be one of nature’s survival strategies for mankind especially during famine or calamities that could impact food production.

So from a religious standpoint, it looks like God knew what He was doing when He prescribed fasting upon us.

Seidu Malik is a member of Muslim Writers Guild and a blogger for the Islam Ahmadiyya blog on Patheos Muslim.