FASTING; A PERSONAL AFFAIR WITH GOD

FASTING; A PERSONAL AFFAIR WITH GOD

 BY: Lubnah Abdulhalim

Photo Courtesy: bbc.co.uk

Fasting is more of a one to one thing between mankind and His God. It is rather a personal affair that only God can reward for. It is a sacrifice that really needs a believing heart to strictly follow. Even the Christians who fast will agree with me on this. There are acts that people tend to do just as a trend or like a ritual to them but that shouldn’t be the case with fasting because fasting really shows your extent of willingness to submit to your God. 

It is rather sad, I must say, that there are people who show the world that they have fasted and someone would think no one could fast better than this person. It is all over their facebook account, twitter, instagram, whatsapp and all other applications we may know of, that they have really fasted. They would post of how tough the fast is and complain everywhere possible. They would make a fuss out of it even at the work place just to show that they are weak and can’t possibly work well. We have probably met such individuals who keep whining about the fast to the extent of irritating others. One would think they would pass out and die just the next moment.

Others are those that claim to have fasted and then eat secretly in unknown places and the question remains; whom are we cheating if not ourselves? Telling the world that you have fasted while you haven’t doesn’t really add or deduct anything from any other person’s life. This is a matter of personal relationship with your God. How you handle it just depends on your faith and dedication. This is not meant to be a punishment but rather a wise and beneficial program to make us feel the pangs of hunger the less fortunate feel everyday. It is to make us as human beings remember the poor and needy through charity and appreciate the bounties we have.

 A food for thought for all of us is that, if some few countable days of not eating for mere twelve hours make us complain and whine and sleep all day, maybe we should imagine how these poor people really survive without eating for three or more consecutive days and nights plus with tough work to do. Smaller children are actually fasting at their own choice and playing around without complaining about it so why should we? Let us not be lazy and act too delicate to the extent that people have to say ‘sorry’ to us for fasting! I have previously heard this saying quite many times whereby the others who are not fasting feel sorry for us. This just shows how wrongly we portray ourselves in fasting. As I said it before, fasting is not meant to be a punishment and should never be.

Let us stop complaining and creating too much chaos about it on social media but rather appreciate the bounties we take for granted all through out the year. No one out there wants to know or really cares if you have fasted or not, because in the end of the day, no one knows the value of the sacrifice you’ve done except you and your Lord. Keep it real!