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Ramadan in Spring- a time for renewal and growth

ByAyesha Khan

This year Ramadan has fallen in spring. The shoots are peeping out of the ground and the blossoms are unfurling on the trees. In his poem Rising Five, Norman Nicholson said:

Around him in the field, the cells of spring
Bubbled and doubled; buds unbuttoned; shoot
And stem shook out the creases from their frills,
And every tree was swilled with green. (Rising Five)

Just as spring is filled with a sense of renewal and growth, Ramadan is very much a month of renewal and growth.

In many verses of the Quran, our attention is drawn to the cycle of life, and how God brings life from the dead earth and how He sends the rain to trigger growth:

Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the ships which sail through the sea with goods for people, and what God has sent down from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness, scattering all kinds of moving creatures over it, directing  the winds and the clouds that run their appointed courses between the sky and the earth: there are signs in all these for a people who use reason. (2:164)

After the stillness of winter, life emerges. In another verse of the Quran it says:

He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living

and brings to life the earth after its lifelessness. And thus you too will be brought out. (30:19)

This growth is around us right now as the daffodils are magically appearing which are reminiscent of Wordsworth, who described how he stumbled upon a host of golden daffodils. He said that later, when he reclined on his couch, the memory of those daffodils would flash in his mind:

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils. (William Wordsworth)

Our hearts do dance when we see daffodils and once spring is in the air, we are filled with a sense of expectation.

The same sense of expectation overtook Mole in Wind in the Willows when he was gripped by longing to escape from his dark burrow where he was spring cleaning and painting, and began to hurry to scrabble out to sniff the fresh air outside.

Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said ‘Bother!’ and ‘O blow!’ and also ‘Hang spring-cleaning!’ and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. (Wind in the Willows)

Ramadan is spring for the soul – all year round we fall into a set pattern but then Ramadan comes and stirs us up, we shake off the cobwebs of our well-worn routines climb out of our slumber to sniff the promise in the air, as we are presented with a new opportunity to grow.

Every year Ramadan takes us out of our comfort zone. It is not easy to wake up before the crack of dawn, let alone eat at 4.30am in the morning. And then make it through to iftar time without eating or drinking.

 Yet every year, we manage this. Some children will be fasting for the first time, others have managed to keep all their fasts last year.

What do Muslims gain by putting ourselves through this rigorous month? And by turning our routines upside down for 29 or 30 days?

Physical renewal and repair

The first thing that happens is to our bodies.

By changing the timings of when we eat, though we might feel weak or slow during the day, it actually gives our body a chance to repair and renew itself.

Fasting cleanses the body, boosts metabolism, and enhances brain function. It triggers cellular repair just as the poem described with the bubbling and doubling we see in spring.

In the first phase of fasting, as the body detoxes, we can experience headaches and withdrawal. But then the body switches from using external fuel sources to its own supplies. And then the magic begins to happen.

Fasting reduces inflammation, insulin sensitivity, improves heart health, and boosts immunity! (As along as we don’t sabotage our efforts when we eat again)

The health benefits were known a long time ago and even the Greeks used to fast.

The ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, known as the “father of medicine” (who died in 375 B.C) used fasting as a way of treating illness.

Mental aspect of fasting

The ancient Greek philosopher, Pythagoras supposedly fasted for 40 days before his exams and encouraged his philosophy students to fast in order to sharpen their minds.

So fasting is a way of improving keeping our minds sharp as well as our bodies.

Other religions

It was not only the Greeks who fasted, we know that the prophets used to fast as Moses fasted for 40 days when he received the Ten Commandments. And Jesus fasted for 40 days. Jews and Hindus also fast as part of their acts of worship.

in Islam, we fast for the whole month of Ramadan, as the Quran instructs us. It is an act of worship which makes us more aware of God in our lives, our dependence on Him and very importantly it is a training ground for developing our self-control.

Islam is full of paradoxes – and one of the paradoxes is that we become stronger by making ourself weak. Though we may feel weak during the day due to fasting, we are strengthening ourselves mentally. We are building our inner resolve, building our self-control.

Doritos and dragons

Have you noticed what happens when you eat one Dorito? You feel like eating another Dorito. And then another Dorito and soon you might find you’ve eaten the entire big bag. I know many people will be giving up crisps and chocolate for Lent as well.

There are things we all love. But often the more we have of those things, the more cravings we get for them and the more we feel we can’t resist them. Desire is something that is completely natural but the more you feed it, the more it grows. Unless we learn how to curb our desires – not just for food but for anything – those desires keep growing and become addictions. So desires can become a dragon that keeps trying to control us.

Ramadan comes to tame the dragon. It shows us that we have the power to keep our dragons under control.

Imagine if we fed that dragon every time it called us? It would become a rather large dragon!

Fasting reveals human potential

When we discover that we have the power to control our desires, it shows us that we CAN rise above our desires. This is very empowering. And it also reveals to us our own potential.

Ramadan shows us that we are capable of more than we think. We CAN resist Doritos, we CAN get by without coffee, we CAN survive 12-18 hours without eating or drinking, we CAN pray in the night and still be up in the morning for work and some elite athletes can perform at the Olympics or in the FA Cup while fasting.

Ramadan is a month that reveals our potential.

In Islam, humans are viewed as creatures with tremendous potential. When God created Adam, He gave him the ability to use reason, which means that we are born with the potential to learn, to deduce, to memorise, to solve, to predict, to plan and to build.

The reason we come to school is in order to turn our potential into ability. To nurture our innate talents, to expand our minds, to be challenged and to unleash our creative powers.

When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was in the dark cave one night, and the angel came to him and said to him “Read!” it was in the month of Ramadan.

ٱقۡرَأۡ بِٱسۡمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ

خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِنۡ عَلَقٍ

ٱقۡرَأۡ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلۡأَكۡرَمُ

ٱلَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِٱلۡقَلَمِ

عَلَّمَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ

Read in the name of your Lord who created –

Created man from a clot.

Read, and your Lord is the most Generous –

Who taught by the pen –

Taught man that which he knew not. (96:1-5)

This first words of revelation highlight human potential – our life begins as a mere dot in our mother’s womb, yet we go on to read, to learn, to explore the universe, dive into the depths of the oceans, and climb the highest mountains.

Striving

Any achievement requires hard work. It needs sacrifices and it needs commitment. But we live in a world of instant and constant self-gratification. So, we have to strive to reach our potential, we have to strive against the pulls in a world of social media, surplus food, constant stream of entertainment and distraction. Ramadan teaches us to strive against ourselves and against all the things that keep us from reaching our potential.

Imam al Ghazali, the great Islamic scholar, said that success comes when we use our intellect and faith to tame our desires, which he compares to a horse. If we can control the horse, we can reach our destination safely, but if we let the horse take control, who knows where will end up – certainly not where we wanted to go.

At school, we are also taught to keep trying, and to have a growth mindset.

Excellence

In Ramadan, we take the growth mindset to another level. Because Ramadan is when we push ourselves in every way.

The higher level of fasting is not just controlling what we eat, but the fasting of the eyes, the ears and the tongue. This means that we avoid saying anything hurtful or rude. We try to control our anger, when we are provoked. We have to avoid gossiping. We try and reach a level of self-discipline that goes beyond food and permeates your life and all your dealings with others. This is emotional discipline.

That is why Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us that when we get provoked, we should not escalate the argument, but say, “I am fasting” and move away.

“When one of you is fasting, he should not engage in obscene language or raise his voice in anger. If someone insults him or fights with him, let him say: ‘I am fasting, I am fasting.’” (Bukhari and Muslim)

In fact, this is how we should be all year round, but in Ramadan, by focusing on it more carefully, we try and build the habit that we can carry with us when Ramadan is over. As we know, it takes 30 days to build a habit.

In Ramadan we are aiming to go beyond the ordinary and make the extraordinary our ordinary. In fact, the Quran teaches us to keep striving for excellence, not just “good enough”. In the Quran, it says:

Every community has a direction towards which it turns. Therefore race towards goodness/ excel in doing good deeds/ compete with one another in good works. Wherever you may be, God will bring you all together [to be judged, when good works will be rewarded according the intention and weight of how much they pleased God], surely God has power over all things. (2:148)

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was once passing a grave, and noticed that the grave was not straight, so he told the gravediggers to straighten the grave. They were surprised, because they didn’t think it mattered, but he said:

“When you do something, do it well. Straighten this (grave), for this does not cause any harm, nor does it bring any benefit, but it brings comfort to the living.” (Ibn Majah)

In one of the very beautiful verses in the Quran, it says:

Worship God alone and associate nothing with Him, and to parents be excellent, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the neighbour farther away, the companion at your side, the traveller and those who serve you. Indeed, God does not like those who are arrogant and boastful. (4:36)

This one verse tells us that in all our relationships we have to be our best self. Whether it is how we treat our parents, or our relatives, or our neighbours, or even the one who happens to sit next to you on the bus, we should be our best and our kindest self.

And note the verse ends by saying that our best should not just be excellent but excellent while being humble!

Kindness

Out of all the values in Islam, one of the most important one is kindness. Kindness is when you go out of your way to show genuine concern for others. It is acts of compassion and love and generosity.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was known for his generosity. He loved to give and his wife said that he was always generous, but he was even more generous in the month of Ramadan. That is why Muslims do their best to donate as much as they can during Ramadan, last year on average, Muslims donated four times as much as anyone else in the UK.

Which brings me back to food again. Humans have been created with a purpose greater than simply consuming or surviving as a species.

As humans we have the ability to rise beyond our own needs. We have the ability to make sacrifices for the sake of others.

We have been given the responsibility of looking after the planet and ensuring that we look after those who are in need.

In Ramadan, while our bodies by detoxing, and taking a break from the cycle of constant consuming, we shift our focus from the material world, to God, and to our purpose for being here. This life is an opportunity to extend mercy and kindness to others. In the Quran it says:

[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deeds – and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving – (67:2)

As we strive against our desires, greed takes a back seat. The soul is given priority over the body, slipping out of the shadows for a month, and we look around to see whom we can benefit – whether it is by charity or by helping others or by sharing what we have with others.

One day, a poor lady and her two daughters came to visit Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they were visibly hungry, but Aisha had nothing in her home herself except one date. So she gave it to the woman. The woman herself, despite being hungry broke the date in half and gave each daughter half of the day, not eating any of it.

We see from the story, the beautiful kindness and generosity of Aisha and the mother. We see that they were able to make sacrifices for others.

These are the values of Ramadan – the month in which we practice our self-control, we strive to be better, we tap into our potential, we aim to be excellent while being humble, and above all we show kindness to others.

We pray that this month, which is already whizzing by is filled with blessings and mercy for all. And that we continue to strengthen our bonds and community.

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