ramadan & fasting
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What Now after Ramadan?
Now that Ramadan has come to an end; and now that the spiritual energy and barakah we’ve been surfing on for the past month is subsiding, there is always that conundrum of letting ourselves spiritually unravel and allowing our material concerns to eclipse our spiritual ones. And whilst we are not expected to be in Continue reading
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Reality Check with Ramadan
Below are three short blog pieces I wrote last year on the theme of Ramadan and the spiritual technology called siyam/sawm, or fasting. Indeed, the very point of fasting in Ramadan, the fourth pillar of Islam, is to foster a state of detachment from the world, as also from our ego and desires. This creates, as it Continue reading
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Moon Sighting: Unity or Lunacy?
Down the centuries, people have associated full moon nights with weird happenings and strange behaviour. An increase in crime, in mayhem and madness, lunatics on the loose – werewolves, even, have all been linked to the eerie effects of the full moon. ‘It is the very error of the moon. She comes more near the earth than she Continue reading
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Believing in the Ramadan Hope & Healing
As we approach the latter part of Ramadan, here are some reflections from the words of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, to spur us on to the fruits of Ramadan with renewed vigour. (Previous visits to Ramadan with Ibn Rajab can be read here and here): ♦ 1. Let us recall how the path to goodness has been Continue reading
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Reality of the Ramadan Heat
It’s been a scorcher! Having completed the first week of fasting in Ramadan, British Muslims have been enduring searing temperatures they never anticipated. No doubt, in some countries summer temperatures in excess of 30 degrees is regarded as mild or moderate. But here, given that we are a pretty much sun-starved nation, it’s a veritable Continue reading
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Ramadan: Becoming What We Were Born to Be
Today sees the first day of Ramadan: the Muslim month of fasting (sawm). Observing the fasts of Ramadan unites Muslims the world over in common purpose and creates great social cohesion. But more than its social benefits, or benefits to the body (which is always a welcome side effect), Ramadan is principally designed to be Continue reading
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Ramadan: Time to Slide Out of the Rat Race
Some lovers of this fleeting life live their lives in the fast line; ever eager to keep their motor of materialism in top gear. Some are content to cruise the consumerist dream in third or fourth gear. Others only manage to dawdle through dunya’s distractions in second. But all such lovers are bitterly averse, to moseying Continue reading
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Ramadan: Reverence, Restraint & Responsibility
‘There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self,’ said Aldous Huxley, the English novelist best known for his dystopian novel, Brave New World. In his exploration of the dilemmas confronting modern man (the rise of capitalism, the dehumanising demands of technological progress, and the cult of Continue reading