5 Ramadan 1431

5 Ramadan 1431

We pray to God to remove the covers that we place between ourselves and Him. God is not hidden from us; but we hide Him from ourselves. We pretend He is not present by not paying attention to the ways in which His presence shines through everything there is. Why don't we pay attention? Because we are preoccupied with worldly inclinations. Hence, by fasting we try to overcome our inclinations. What is forbidden during the Ramadan fast are just instances. We can fast from any of the things to which we are inclined: TV, shopping, gossiping, complaining, being vindictive, being haughty. Surely we can go for some time without the object of some inclination, even if for an hour. Once we get control over ourselves, we can see things differently, and listen differently.

My father once gave up bread for Lent. It was hard for him, since he took sandwiches to work for lunch. He tried using lettuce leaves in place of bread to make his sandwiches. He finished the Lenten season with a firm resolve never never ever to give up eating bread for Lent again! But by doing it, he found out that he could conquer his need for bread, however unpleasant the conquest. He always told us: Never give up, never give up, never never ever give up! That's how we have to approach this problem of self-improvement.

Once we gain the confidence that we can reconfigure how we satisfy our inclinations to allign with the will of God, we will be wary about how we conduct ourselves, wary of God. William Chittick has suggested that the best way to think of taqwā is as “God-wariness”.

183. O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you As it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) taqwā,-

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