Restraint

Now

everyone knows that the Messenger would fast for the month of Ramadhan,

along with the rest of his community of followers,

an example that is followed by muslims around the world today.

But Ramadhan was not the only time that the Messenger fasted.

He fasted often.

It is said that he fasted each Monday and Thursday,

but even when he was not fasting he ate very little

and went hungry often,

even strapping a flat rock to his belly to ease the hunger pangs.

The Messenger was very concerned for the human relationship with food,

how basic it is and how powerful,

an attraction so strong that it can easily get out of control

and so needs to be restrained and kept in balance.

Not that he did not also make it clear

that balance also required restraint the other way,

telling those of his community who thought it would be best to fast every day,

that they should not fast more often than the alternate days of the Fast of David.

The Hadith collections have many reports of the Messengers opinions

with regard to different aspects of restraint in our relationship with food,

from ensuring the purity of everything we eat,

to the act of eating as a time of gratitude,

and that the best meal should leave the stomach

one third food, one third drink, and one third air,

and that the exceptional health and vigour of his community

was due to the frequency of their fasting.

Gluttony was always considered to be

one of the Seven Deadly Sins,

showing how strong this relationship is,

how attractive, how self-indulgent,

and yet how debilitating.

And the health benefits of a restrained and healthy diet

may be obvious nowadays,

but few find it easy to show restraint,

as the vast numbers enrolled in slimming clubs will attest to.

It is hard to find the will to take control.

It takes practice.

And fasting is good for the one who fasts,

reminding them of how lucky they are

to be able to go hungry of their own choice,

and then eat at the end of their fast,

knowing that others are going hungry

and inevitably staying that way.

This brings an awareness of gratitude and humility,

which eases the mind of the one who fasts,

and which is also of benefit to the community.

And as a purpose of muslim fasting is to draw the one who fasts closer to God,

it is not just food and drink that are involved, but behaviour,

so fasting has many other beneficial effects on a community.

Renewed awareness of what it feels like to be hungry

leads to works of charity,

easing problems across the community.

And as fasting also requires restraint from harmful words and bad deeds,

the community benefits as courtesy spreads throughout it