Ramadan: surviving hardship, finding meaning

01/08/2010| IslamWeb

I am not exaggerating. For those of us for whom it is hard to remember the benefits of what we are doing during this blessed month(Ramadan), I do believe it is just the sheer power of our families and communities coming together (and going through hardship together) which keep us going. But for those of us here in the West who study and work among non- Muslims, there is an additional aspect to our Ramadan fasting which may cause us personal difficulty, and that is our isolation from the rest of society.

It is true that we may be facing a desk, a sales counter, a machine, or whatever means it is from which we earn our keep, and feel that none of our colleagues understand what we are going through. Hours can pass in this sort of isolated hunger and tiredness. Our minds can even delude us with the idea that it is too much for us to handle. But Allah Says (what means): “Allah never places a burden on a soul, except what it is in its capacity.” [Quran 2:286] and we know that after the 30 days of Ramadan we be alive and well, in high spirits, and, Inshaa Allah (God willing), have learned a thing or two. So what method am I proposing to you, my brother or sister in Islam, to help you get through the period of hardship, and emerge having found meaning every step of the way? Quite simply: Be an ant.

 

Besides the complexity of its living habits and the capabilities of its body, the ant has one very clear and amazing characteristic that is apparent to anyone who has spent time observing this amazing creature- its determination, which is manifested through its vigorous pursuit of its goals, its calculated risks against bad odds, and its amazing ability to adapt to changing conditions. These traits of the ant prompted Imaam Al-Ghazaali to offer, in his book titled ‘Ihyaa’ ‘Uloom Ad-Deen’, a masterful parable by which we may compare ourselves and learn something meaningful this Ramadan:

 

“A human being, in his striving to distance himself from... opposite extremes [of excess and deficiency in religion] by returning to the middle, can be compared to an ant thrown into the centre of a ring heated in fire and set on the earth: it will flee from the ring’s heat which surrounds it, but, being unable to escape, will continue to run about until it comes to rest in the centre (should it die, it will die there); because the centre is the furthest point from the heat of the encompassing ring.”

 

Step by step, Imaam Al-Ghazaali walks us through the parables. He first says: “Man’s desires surround him just as the burning ring contains the ant.” This is the means by which Allah tests us, as He, The Most Exalted, Says (what means): ‘[Allah] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed.’[Quran 67:2]…”

 

Al-Ghazaali explains: “The area outside the ring represents the station of angels who are neither restricted by human desires nor by the need to conform to the Divine dictates –which man never attains- because of the nature that Allah created him in. Just as the ant strives to leave the ring but cannot, we too seek to rid ourselves of the limitations of our bad desires, but cannot because of the very state in which Allah has created us. The ant runs about, and so do we. It burns itself at the edges of the ring – and we burn ourselves time and again in doing that which is against Allah’s command. We invest our hopes in money, sex, indulgence in food, music, TV, movies, and all sorts of thrills just trying to reach an inner feeling of freedom from the anxieties sparked by the tension between our desires and Allah’s commands – and we get singed.”

 

“To the human being, the angelic state of freedom from limitation, from sin, and from divine law seems to be the ultimate goal of mankind. He desires to imitate them [the angels] in their liberty”. When Al-Ghazaali characterizes it as a quest for liberty, we all know what he is talking about. He is talking about a type of freedom which is promised for us in Paradise, the type of self- contentment of the “well pleased soul” which Allah is well pleased with-referred to in the verses (which mean): "O reassured soul! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Allah]…”[Quran 89:27-28]  Even the non-Muslim seeks this state, in every single one of his acts of disobedience, searching for contentment and fulfillment. But the Muslim is conscious of the Hellfire and of the deadly consequences of his perverted actions.

 

Some Muslims took another extreme approach, and this is what Al-Ghazaali was mentioning about the practice of some people in his time – people who would starve themselves almost to death in order to free themselves of their desires. No. This is not allowed in Islam. We- Muslims- are a nation ordered to be in a middle way, not to be excessive in all our affairs.Allah has made fasting mandatory on us for only a limited time, and not in a way which is excessive.

 

As we fast this Ramadan, let us not find peace in the end of it, as too many of us do, but in a process of understanding and knowledge about the quest of all mankind to reach a middle path through their actions. Our non-Muslim peers may be oblivious to what we go through to earn the Favor of the Sustainer of the Universe, but in reality we cannot be oblivious to what all of humanity goes through, trying to find ultimate and lasting satisfaction. Ramadan is not about empathizing with the starving, but about empathizing with all of humanity who, despite their material real beings, are all impoverished  and in need of Allah Who Says (what means): “O mankind, you are those in need of Allah , while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.”[Quran 35:15]