大象传媒

Good morning!

Today Muslims have begun Ramadan, the month of fasting. Healthy adults will fast from dawn until sunset without food and water for about nineteen hours. The Qur鈥檃n says that people of other religions before Islam was established also fasted so it鈥檚 nothing new.

Nowadays the 5:2 diet has become very popular. But for Muslims, the purpose of fasting is to help us become more righteous and more aware of God鈥檚 presence. Despite our hunger, we will not eat secretly because we know God is watching us. This lesson, if understood properly, should stop us from doing any wrong and last us for life. Ramadan is also like spring when we can refresh our relationship with God having drifted away.

However, when I look around I find that many Muslims seem to have missed the point. At home, we eat a lot more in Ramadan. My wife and I do the shopping and preparing weeks in advance and fill up the freezers. A significant amount of time is also spent preparing hot meals to break the fast at sunset. It seems like food is all the rage in Ramadan. We should be spending more time in prayer and less in eating. It鈥檚 worse that a lot of the food is not very healthy. There鈥檚 a lot of fried food for starters, many sweet dishes for dessert and not much goodness in between. Surely, eating in this way not only affects our health but also our pattern of prayer, work and rest. Perhaps we need to appreciate more the true meaning of Ramadan.

Dear God, cleanse and purify our hearts, fill them with your love, make us more righteous and aware of your presence at all times, amin.