大象传媒

From Sarah Joseph, Editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine:

It鈥檚 that time of the year again when 1.5 billion Muslims welcome the month of Ramadan 鈥� 30 days of fasting.

For some, the month is a resistance to consumerism that reminds us of the needs of the poor.聽 For others, the month is a test of endurance and resilience.
For some critics, Ramadan is an arcane tradition, which is incompatible with modern life. I am not sure what those critics feel about the recent medical studies on fasting鈥檚 potential benefits to our health, but what I am sure of is that fasting for an entire month from dawn until dusk can be seen as really weird. Yet I do it anyway.
I don鈥檛 fast for health reasons, or community reasons, or charitable reasons, although I recognise that all of these things have validity, and help us understand.
I fast because the Qur鈥檃n says, 鈥渇asting is required of you as it was required of those before you, that you may become conscious of God.鈥�

Committing to a way of life is not about suspending your judgement or your intelligence-the Qur鈥檃n is, after-all, dedicated 鈥渢o those who think鈥�. Such commitment is however about surrendering yourself with a fullness and openness to something greater than yourself.

Ramadan asks Muslims to abstain from the normal physical demands of our bodies, to transcend them in order to get closer to the part of us which is spiritual, which is beyond the body. It compels us to suspend our most basic desires, and by doing so to demand of own selves more than we think that we are capable of. Ramadan asks us to silence our bodies and to listen to our souls.

And so I fast unashamedly, recognising that people are often aghast at the tradition.
And I am a Muslim unashamedly, recognising that for many it is strange, even at odds with how they think the modern world should be.

Ultimately I think people appreciate that honesty. The icon, Muhammad Ali, whose funeral is tomorrow, was loved by people because he stood for something, and he wasn鈥檛 afraid to challenge the norms of his times.

I am terrified every year before Ramadan starts, but in knowing that I have to do it I find courage somehow, and courage is definitely an attribute worth fasting for.