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 |  موضوع: Fast during the holy month of Ramadan  الإثنين فبراير 18, 2013 8:08 pm | |
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Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and
blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the
honest.
Oh, Allah, we know nothing but what You teach us. You are
the All- Knower, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach us what is good for us,
and benefit us from what You taught us, and increase our knowledge.
Show us the righteous things as righteous and help us to do them,
and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keep away from
them.
O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness
and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and knowledge, and from the
muddy shallows of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity.
Introduction:
Scientists see that Islamic Fast is a kind
of protection and immunity against a great many kinds of diseases and
illnesses. It may be the only cure for some incurable diseases, such as
cute stomach inflammation, tenacious vomiting during pregnancy, some
kinds of diabetes, high blood pressure, failure of kidneys, angina
pectoris, chronic digestive inflammations, and gallbladder calculus, and
some other skin diseases.
Fast as a treatment:
In fact, Islamic Fast, which plays an
important role in the treatment of some diseases, can be very effective
if it is practiced according to the Prophetic Sunna and Tradition of
Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH).
Fast for psychological health:
As confirmed by medical scientists, Islamic
Fast is also a kind of psychological treatment, as it provides spiritual
enhancement and strengthens the feeling of being free from physical
limitations and habits. This is because, as it is rightly said, the best
habit is not to have any habit. For example, if one is able to give up
smoking while observing the Fast during the holy month of Ramadan, this
means that one is able to give it up altogether.
Fast strengthens man’s will:
Therefore, man’s will is strengthened by the
Fast, and so is his devotion. This is because the Fast is a kind of
devotional worship. It enhances man’s moral feelings, as he voluntarily
abstains from eating or drinking although different kinds of foods and
drinks are available and close at hand.
Some physical benefits of fast:
Among the great many physical benefits of
Islamic Fast is that during the holy month of Ramadan, the stomach and
digestive system are both at rest, and so are such other organs and
systems as the heart and circulatory system, the kidneys and refining
system. If anything went wrong with these organs and systems of the
body, man’s life would be a piece of Hell. If, for example, the kidneys
suddenly stopped working, life would be unbearable. If the heart
weakened, the arteries got narrowed and inflexible, and the heart
suffered from infarction, things would be too hard. In fact, the
diseases and illnesses that afflict the heart are innumerable, and so
are those that badly affect the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys,
urinary system, digestive system, circulatory system, and excretion
system. All such organs and systems can be protected by the Fast.
Therefore, the Fast is not only a cure but a protection as well.
An essay about heart diseases goes: The
heart’s work and safety are subject to the amount and kind of food that
man eats. In other words, safety and proper function of the heart and
arteries have to do with the kind and amount of food that a person eats.
That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), bids us to be moderate in eating
and drinking. Allah, Most Gracious, also bids us to be as such. He,
Most Merciful, says,
“And eat and drink, but do not be immoderate. Verily, He (Allah) does not like the immoderate.”
[VII; 31]
Those who go beyond bounds in food and drink
have a priceless opportunity during the holy month of Ramadan to go
back to normal and to have their digestive system restored to health. In
other words, man’s bad food habits as well as malnutrition throughout
the whole year are corrected by the Fast during the holy month of
Ramadan. But a person committed to the Prophetic Sunna and Tradition in
food and drink throughout the whole year becomes healthier an more
energetic by observing the Fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
In his book “Ihya’ ‘Uloum Ad-Deen” (Revival
of Religious Knowledge) Imam Al-Ghazali singles out a whole chapter for
what he calls “Merits of Hunger”. He says: “All good is to be sought in
Hunger, which does not mean undue starvation but rather moderation in
food and drink. This is because a full stomach causes dullness; and
excessive untimely over-eating causes not only idleness, inactivity, and
laziness but also intestine putridity and heart weakness.” In this
context, the month of the Fast, Ramadan, comes to help man restore his
good health, which is, according to the teachings of Islam,
indispensable for his happiness and prosperity in the life of this
present world. In the sight of Islam man’s precious life is limited and,
therefore, should by no means be spent in idleness or illness. However,
there is not enough room in this lecture to enumerate the great many
benefits of the Islamic Fast, which can be summed up by the Prophetic
Hadith:
“Fast, and you will be healthy.”
[Al-Firdaous (3745) and Kashf Al-Khafa’ (1455)]
Preventive health:
As used in the above Prophetic Hadith, the
word “healthy” means “free from diseases or illnesses”. This is because
if you observe the Fast during the holy month of Ramadan, you protect
your body from serious diseases and illnesses. But if you abstain from
food and drink during the day and then, at sunset, you sit down to lots
and lots of food and drink, you waste the merits of the Fast. In other
words, you should be moderate in eating and drinking during the days of
Ramadan. If you eat at sunset all the food stuff that you usually eat
during a whole day, you get no benefit out of your Fast! A heavy meal at
sunset is sure to make one too lazy to move, and so does another heavy
Sohour (a meal before daybreak). Without moderation in having food and
drink upon the break of the Fast, it would be a mere shift of meals that
brings no good and keeps diseases and illnesses of malnutrition
unhealed.
Translation : Khaled Al-Athmeh
Edited by :
Source
http://www.nabulsi.com/en/art.php?art=11651&id=182&sid=183&ssid=184&sssid=185&w=
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