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Good Morning.
Some of my friends are impressed with my fasting during Ramadan but they are also slightly sceptical. ‘Surely you can’t last for 20 hours without drinking water?!’ and ‘Is anyone forcing you to fast?’ and my favourite ‘Do you eat when no one’s looking?’
I find it amusing and slightly disconcerting that people think I may be compelled to act in a particular way; to pray or fast simply because of social pressure, that my expression of faith, especially when it’s outside our usual social norms, is insincere. I always put their mind at rest. No I’m not coerced and never have been either in the way I dress, or what I eat or how I worship. Like everyone else I’m influenced by the various groups I belong to, my peer group, my work colleagues, my faith companions. But it’s never against my will.
One of the fundamental principles of Islam is encapsulated in this verse from the Quran ‘There is no compulsion in faith’. The Islamic tradition also declares that ‘Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended’ – a community of faith can only exist if its members freely sign up to that faith and a virtuous act can only be virtuous if we enter into it consciously and willingly. 
This is why we must always ask ourselves ‘Why am I doing what I’m doing?’ The connection between action and intention highlights the connection between the physical and the spiritual. We may pray so that we’re thought of as pious, or we may give charity so we’re known as ‘generous’. But all that leads to is an ego boost as opposed to real spiritual growth.Wise and knowing God, grant us the self-knowledge to recognise our real intentions and the true purpose of our actions. And grant us the wisdom to differentiate between self serving and sincerity in words and deeds. Amen