By Qayyim Khakwani
Why do we engage in any activity that is difficult and painful? Because we realize it will benefit us in the long term. The more personal our reasons, the more likely we’re able to come through. For example, someone who decides to quit smoking has to have very personal reasons for doing so. Will he go through the pain of quitting for someone else? Even if he does, how likely is he to succeed if the end goal is not personal to him, something that HE wants for himself? Definitely, the other factors are equally important but need to be supplemented by the individual’s personal ‘why.’ When the going gets tough, it is this why, this promise of growth into the future, which keeps the person moving forward despite all challenges.
In a similar vein, why do we fast? Common responses would be something like: Because of God’s command. Because it will earn us reward in the hereafter. All these reasons are very important, but how much of that why (of fasting) is personal for us in the here-and-now? If our suffering bears us no fruits in this world, if it doesn’t promise growth, we would want for the pain to end as soon as possible. In a scenario such as this, why would it make sense to carry the lessons of Ramadan into the rest of the year and make our lives even more difficult? Much like, why would anybody continue to strive at the gym if he doesn’t have a goal which justifies the struggle?
If it is the reward in the hereafter we’re looking for, it doesn’t have to be at the cost of suffering which doesn’t make sense in this world.
This world and the next don’t have to be mutually exclusive: struggle in this world | Attain reward in the next.
There can be continuity between both: As much as there are rewards of fasting in the next world, there can be rewards (effects) of fasting in this world too, in light of which the struggle attains more meaning.
If our reasons for fasting are predominantly reserved for the next world, it is very likely that the effects that Ramadan has the potential to bring forth are not actualized in this world. Our growth as individuals and as a community doesn’t remain a priority because of this black and white thinking: deny this world for the next.
If growth is what we are aiming for, then self-discipline is the key to that growth. Ramadan provides us that opportunity to discipline ourselves for our own good.
Instincts by their very nature are blind, unconscious, and demand immediate gratification. What Ramadan is teaching us is the ability to delay gratification. Rather than being blindly governed by instincts and desires, to be able to increase the space of freedom and choice where you can decide when and how much to engage in them. No matter how slow we progress or how much we falter along the way, we have a ‘why’ to keep moving forward! The effects of this struggle should be visible to us in the near future.
The following quote from Allama Iqbal can provide us an insight into the effects which our ancestors were able to achieve in this world as a result of practicing self-discipline, which is the hallmark of what Ramadan offers us: “Self-Control in individuals builds families. In communities, it builds empires.”