Ramadan fast approaches. The pathways of our hearts and minds carry us to myriad thoughts and reflections surrounding this blessed month. In the words that follow, we've collected some of these meditations from our peers, our Muslim young, both men and women. Words unspoken, more often than not, get buried beneath the incessant buzz of daily bustle, never to witness the breath of even possibility, let alone life.
This, I fear, is the norm among our generation, those from their early teens to young twenties. Far too often we have neither the chance nor the forum to be heard by the older generations, let alone to be taken seriously (though we think many of us do not feel this loss, since we ourselves take each other very seriously and love to listen to each other, as well as hear our own voices). Thus we hope through these interviews to bring together some musings and concerns we very young have about this upcoming Ramadan. In turn, I hope you (be you young or old) will lend a listening ear and respond to us with a little reflection of your own.
Where do you stand?
Are you a Hamza? “Fasting is worth it in this day and age,” says Hamza. He is a 22-year-old college student who loves Ramadan and fasting. It is the intense spiritual atmosphere of Ramadan that gives him the drive he needs to fast. While the society at large also has a positive impact on his fasting, he still tries to keep his fasting hidden because he believes it is an act of worship exclusively for his Lord and he does not want to fast for people.
Hamza enjoys fasting because it helps him focus on the more important things in his life and weed out the frivolous concerns he has. There are also the added physical benefits that he gets from fasting—it detoxifies his body and makes him healthier.
Are you an 'Umar? Fasting is useless in this day and age, having no impact whatsoever on people. So says 21-year-old college student, 'Umar. “People still do the same [wrong] things,” he says matter-of-factly. “They're just hungrier when they do them." The only practical value he sees in fasting is weight loss.
It is for these reasons that ‘Umar does not fast (or perform Prayer) all the time. He knows he is supposed to fast, and he knows that he needs to work on it, but he becomes unmotivated because he sees so many 'hypocritical' Muslims who only fast because it's a custom. “I’m just not like that,” he says. Knowing that Muslims are not fasting for the right reasons and still engaging in bad activities makes him look both at them and fasting in a negative way. He doesn't see any point or benefit in it.
When he does fast, he does so because his family fasts and because he knows it is an obligation. Fasting is not physically difficult for him—not any more than it is for any one else, that is. He used to be embarrassed to let people know that he was fasting because he did not really know how to explain himself to people, what it meant, and why he did it. Now, as he has gotten older, he does not care what people think about him, how they view him, and whether or not they know he is fasting.
Are you an Usaama? "We need fasting especially in this modern age because people are too busy into their work lives and do not have any time to practice Islam.” Ramadan, 18-year-old Usaama argues, gives us a break from the relentless conveyor-belt “busyness” that most of us experience year-in and year-out.
While he fasts because it is a religious obligation, he also sees the great spiritual and practical values of fasting: It helps him build an internal tolerance and watchfulness that he normally does not have. It creates an added awareness in him, preventing him from doing wrong things that normally he wouldn’t think twice about if he weren't fasting. The act of fasting draws him closer to Islam because it gives him a spiritual appetite, making him strive to gain more knowledge and understanding of his religion.
Are you a Haashim? A 15-year-old-high school student, Haashim performs his Prayer and fasts. He fasts in Ramadan because the people around him expect him to fast. But there's a catch to the fasting thing he doesn't fast all the time, and he has friends that do not fast either. If he knows he will be partaking in a particularly grueling activity (such as football practice) he will not fast.
And yet, he likes the physical and emotional challenges of fasting, such as striving without water and experiencing the hunger and thirst of the needy. He also publicly acknowledges when he fasts because he is proud to be a Muslim. It also helps that he gets positive feedback from the society at large.
Are you an 'Aasim? 'Aasim fasts for three reasons: (1) He strives to be the best Muslim he can be. (2) All the people he looks up to fast in Ramadan. (3) Fasting helps cleanse his body of impurities.
The 19-year-old college student is proud to be a faster and likes to tell people why he is fasting. Besides the hardship of the first two or three days, fasting is case for him. He believes fasting is worth it because it helps strengthen one's resolve to follow more closely the teachings of Islam rather than “the many temptations out there.” It has that impact on him, he says. Fasting also forces people to pause from filling their bodies with the junk that we eat regularly in this day and age, and it also makes him more health-conscious.
'Aasim ends with wishing all his brothers and sisters a blessed Ramadan.