Aarij Anwer – Difficulty Fasting? Recommendations for Ramadan

My word

I want to talk about, I want to start off with a story, a real life story that happened.

It happened to my wife here. She went to a doctor recently, Mashallah, in London, a lot of the doctors are Muslims.

And this lady was also Muslim doctrine. And my wife is conversing with her, she's, first of all health reasons is not fasting, my wife. So this is talking about Ramadan. And this lady who doesn't have the exemption of not fasting says to my wife, that, oh, I used to fast in Ramadan. But now it's too difficult for me, I don't do it anymore. And this was something that

if you are in a certain, if you are in the massive bubble, if I have to call that you come to the Muslim for the Salawat, this is like your second home, perhaps you don't realize that this is a reality of people,

people who are well intentioned Muslims, good people, good hearts. But this is just the reality that they have found themselves to be in. And I like to speak about this. How is it that this difficult undertaking that we are in the middle of how can we go about it, and I have some suggestions in Sharla. And this is a difficult topic, it wasn't easy for me when I was writing this book, but to think a lot about the words that had to use here. But it's a difficult topic, but it's a pressing topic. Because fasting in Ramadan is not like fasting outside a normal bar. It is a very special art. And we'll get to that the situation we find ourselves in is that the struggle that we have here

is a is a real struggle. And we acknowledge that it's not, you know, we are used to a certain lifestyle, we have a routine at work, there's a time for lunch break, there's a time for coffee break, there's recess at school, all those times are built in for the like for the only purpose of eating and drinking. And we're used to that for 11 months. And then it just immediately overnight, literally overnight. We go from that to a completely different lifestyle, as a challenge as a challenge. And we acknowledge that. And we ask Allah to make our challenge easy for us. We go from fasting, or we go from not fasting at all, most of us don't ask outside of Ramadan, to fasting every

single day of the month.

We go from attending the mass on occasion, to attending the mass every single night. In normal life. This is like what we call colloquially like going from from zero to 100. Real quick. That's what this is what that looks like. And

this, I'm not trying to say is a difficult burden. For many of us. It is a difficult burden for many of us, particularly in the summer, particularly with the weather being hot, the fast being long. So I have some recommendations to ease this burden of fasting and child. First and foremost, we understand the gravity of the situation. To be able to evaluate a situation completely you have to understand the gravity of it fully in its totality. We understand the gravity of the fastener, Milan, that this is a pillar of the pillars of Islam. booney al Islam or Allah hums like the Prophet alayhi salatu salam told us, Islam is built upon five main acts of worship. And these are called the

five pillars of Islam. In fact, and why is it called the pillar? a pillar, if you think structurally is the is the load bearing wall, you remove a pillar and the the roof will collapse. The building will not see spills, but the building will cease to exist. If you remove a pillar, this is the gravity of the situation, that normal model, the fast of Ramadan is a pillar, if a person is to compromise that you are essentially compromising the Muslim identity. That's what it is. It's a very big deal. Understanding the gravity of it is that this is a month that was chosen by the hospital specifically for this for this undertaking, and his choice adds to the gravity of the matter. It's a

pillar Allah chose this month. So we have to understand this is no small matter. This is not just any other act of worship. This is a really, really big deal. Number two, we need to prioritize the obligations, the obligations, what's called the YG. But the things that are mandatory in Islam, we have to prioritize

Then over the suddenness What's starhub? What is neverfull stuff that is voluntary and recommended? You see, we are encouraged to do as much as possible to worship a lot to the best of our ability that I recited in the beginning of

the hotel that most hotels recite. Yeah, you and Medina, de la ha ha ha to bother him. Okay. Oh, you have, oh you believe be conscious of Allah have Taqwa as is his right, they do your best, strive your best to have the one plus one class as in other parts of the forum. First, there'll be a full highroad race towards good.

It's like a race. If I see my brother doing something, if I see him praying, if I see him reading extra Quran, like a race, like a competition, I should get spurred on and be inspired to do more.

That's actually how, you know, that's the mindset that Islam wants us to have, have he that I think of it as an ffl otonashi. Soon, the afterlife, the pleasures of the afterlife, the the eternity of the pleasures of paradise. That is what people should strive for. That's what the law says and sort of motto 15, for example. So this is the mindset that we're supposed to have, in general, okay. And what I'm going to say does not negate that. But there is a there's levels of obligations, and there is levels of actions. At the very top of the like level number one priority number one is the obligation, the font, and those are the five pillars of Islam, and nothing should compromise that.

Okay. So for example, we have in Milan, the Knights prayer that are we, we have a taraweeh for quite a long time, or an hour and a bit. And other places. Sometimes it goes to two hours.

We have all these other beautiful actions that are so not prayers that are voluntary acts of worship. You look at the most bare bones version of Islam, it is the five daily prayers. And five millionaires are to the gods of virgin for God's $1 for a cause of acid, three of mother and father ratio. That's the bare board boards version of Islam of Salah. And then there is fasting in Ramadan. And there is the obligatory charity once no other donation is required, and there's Hajj once a lifetime, that is the bare bones, absolute minimum requirement that a veteran came to the Prophet Solomon asked him this question and said that or messenger of Allah, what is it after confirming

that the Prophet is a messenger? He accepted this down. And he asked him, What am I supposed to do? The profits that you have to bring five times a day is that you said hi?

Am I supposed to do more profits or no illa Anta totowa, unless you choose to.

But he asked about the fast of Ramadan, or he asked what the next thing The Prophet said, fasting, same response, in under totowa. That's all you have to do unless there is the capacity to do more. Likewise, from circuits, like what's your Hutch, all of those things. Then he said to the Prophet, this man, he said, la de la hija Walla, and I am not going to add anything to this. And I'm not going to subtract anything from this. That's all I'm going to do. And the Prophet said,

the whole agenda inside of this man is going to enter Paradise, if he's telling the truth. Like if he keeps up the commitment of the bare minimum of the requirements completes the obligations. This man is entering paradise.

That's where the property so he set the baseline for us here. The obligations are to be prioritized. Whenever this man has the profit process. If you want to do more, they'll head your choice, your prerogative, but the requirement is the obligations. So we prioritize that. What does that look like? If you are if you find it difficult to pray at night, it compromises your sleep for example, okay, you don't have to pray the prayer. You don't have to. It's like it. We love to have you 100 enough, but you don't have to specially if that affects the fast. If a person is able to pray shot early, go to sleep early wake up for support, and that helps them during the day. That is a higher

priority than them staying in the Muslim late praying a optional prayer and then compromising their fast

giving way to doubts such as this is too hard for me I can do this laundry.

This is what I'm trying to get, again, the mindset a lot wants us to have is, do as much as you can, the best of your ability. That's what the profits are some live this every single day of his life, the sisters, the last ones, I didn't have to tell him again and again to do good deeds, you have to tell him once. Yeah, you have Muslim mill, como la la ilaha illa. O you who is wrapped up in a cloak, stand up in prayer tonight, once a lot to tell them and then for the rest of his life, they will print the 100

just once. So the profit was p represented excellence he represented what it means to worship a loss plan the best possible way. However, that is like the best case scenario. That's what we aspire to.

Now we come to what do we need to do? What is it that we're basically required to do, and this is what it is to prioritize the obligations, particularly for the one and particularly for the person who is having difficulty fulfilling the obligations.

So that is point number two, understand the gravity of the situation. This is no small feat. Number one, number two, prioritize, prioritize. Everything has to revolve around the five pillars, and particularly the pillars of prayer and the pillars of fasting right now.

From the de la salatu salam ala rasulillah, he early he was having

the difficulty of fasting

last month, it tells us he is not me this as a means to burden us mainly the love with the edge, I

mean, how much the intent isn't to make our lives miserable. However, the reality also is that it is a difficult task. It's not an easy task, particularly for those of us who are having a routine of work and have to spend many hours during normal times when they're eating and drinking now all of a sudden not eating and not drinking. So it is a difficult situation. And here are some suggestions to be able to manage that. Point number three is make it easy on yourself and your body. Okay, so there's many great athletes that we've had, who who are fasting in their the play, you know, we might know Hakeem Olajuwon the great basketball legend would fast and play and his his stats were

better while he was fasting. But he is definitely the exception. Right? He is one of the greats.

This isn't for the person. This isn't for the person who's struggling and questioning when they whether they can fast or not. There's somebody who asked me I have a race at school. Can I break my fast but the race again goes back to the question or the second point, prioritizing obligations. That faster Milan means way more and is way more important than anything else. If you are able to physically you're strong enough, mentally, you're strong enough to be able to fast and do these activities that are physical Alhamdulillah more power to you. But if you're not, then the priority is on what the fasting, making it easy upon ourselves so that it doesn't lead to the situation of

the lady and the story that I began with who just stopped fasting because it was just too much. Too many things were being asked, we reduce and we take it as easy as we can. And we break the religion down to its absolute core. Okay. Another thing to make it easy on ourselves is to take naps. Now this may not be possible considering your situation at work. But if you are in a situation where you have an hour of lunch, and you're able to create a situation where you can take that hour lunch and just have some time to yourself to shut your eyes for a few minutes. That is highly recommended. You know when the Quran Allah speaks about naps in multiple occasions, and always in a positive light.

Always okay napping, by the way is not like sleeping for five hours after the hook. It's a refresh you. He says about the Sahaba came the Sahaba who were stressed out before the Battle of burden. He says about them if you are shikumen Nora, sir, am I

I mean, who are you gonna say garlic luminesce. Malema and Muta Hara combi, the Sahaba in the Battle of butter happen to encounter impossible odds. What were the odds, not just 1000 versus 300. But the cavalry of Polish, the cavalry of the people of Makkah, was 100 horses, cavalry, today's like tanks, the Sahaba had two horses.

That's not a battle. That's, that's death. Those were the odds the Sahaba were going up against. And they didn't come with the mindset of becoming too fast. They came with the mindset of we're coming to stop and intercept this caravan. All of us learn to meet a fully equipped, well prepared army. Okay, this was one of the most difficult nights that the Sahaba faced, because the possibility of being wiped out was very real, the person would pray so much, that he would say, Well, look, if you let these people die today, the Sahaba you won't be worshipped afterwards on the earth, to the point where a worker Siddiq had to stop the processor. And he said that Manasa caramba Rasul Allah, he

said, Enough messenger of Allah, you made enough work.

To show you how stressed they were, that's the situation, what Allah do to them, to relieve this stress, to make it easy for them, to give them the freshness of mind they needed and the clarity to encounter this very difficult situation is your shikumen loss last month, put them in a very restful sleep

that helped them get ready for that day, and get ready for that battle. So it is something and anybody who's taking the nice leg will know about this, it is a beautiful way to refresh. This is a loss of mercy upon us. Try to build this into the routine number one, think of it as a replacement for coffee. Think of it as a replacement for the caffeine that we miss out on during the day that we build in an app somewhere. Again, considering the circumstances for every other for every person.

Point number four, one must understand the situation. But how important is number two to prioritize it over everything else. Number three, to reduce extra things build in ways to make it easy on ourselves. Number four, is to accept and acknowledge that this is a difficult task. There's nothing wrong with that technology, something is harder. And last bottle speaks to bullies that are ill. And he says about the difficult child they were going through with fear out, he says Sophie, Danny koombana.

In your trial that you had been thrown in the oppression you were facing from the home, that was a great child. The difficulty was great. Acknowledging and understanding that yes, we are in a tough situation is part of making it easy so we can proceed to fulfilling that task. Okay, so we acknowledge this is not the easiest thing. So he's not he was asked once, what do you love to do? He said, I love fasting in the summer. Of course, like optional fasts. So people said, Why did you love to fast in the summer? He said, because it's difficult.

And there's more reward. Now, of course, he is at a high level, he's aiming for excellence. The point is, we understand that when there is difficulty we acknowledge it. Here is the interesting part. The harder the action is, the more reward it carries.

The harder something is in Islam, the more reward it carries. For the person who performs that action. If a person lives next door to the masjid, is that easy for them to come to the mosque? Or is it harder? It's way easier, okay. Their reward is proportional to how many steps they take, or how much travel they have to make to come to the mosque. If someone is further away, that's harder, they have more reward. This is the principle in this idea that the more difficult something is, the more reward you get. It's proportionate to the difficulty you encounter. So this fast are these very tough fasts are difficult. But we understand the reward of it is is way greater. It's way greater

than somebody who was fasting in a Muslim country where business shuts down after after fudger and people wake up at Asada or something. It's way greater than somebody who's fasting in a country where the faster 12 hours and 13 hours, they're essentially skipping lunch. We are fasting in tough times. And we understand and we need to know that the reward is much greater for that. And there's no shame in that. In fact, this is encouraged the profits of someone started to tiro.

You will start to tear up the Sahaba asked him why are you crying at us a little low? He said I wouldn't

looky if one, he said I'd like to meet my brothers,

the Sahaba said, our lesson is, why aren't your brothers or messenger of Allah, the Prophet sallallahu on Islam said, then but unto us Javi you are my disciples, you are my companions, my brothers are the ones who will come after me. And believe in me without having seen.

They will believe in me without having seen he was talking about us. And he says, Lila amin home, as you have seen

in our army, the mill home, a judo home seen a mink coat minko the person of those people who comes afterwards, didn't see me but accepted Islam and practices Islam, the one who is devoted to their faith does the actions the faith requires them to do that person has the reward of 50 of you. 50 of the the Sahaba

why in La Quinta de una Allah Hi, Dr. Juan. And while I do it's not like the person is better than 50. However, the reward is like the reward of 50 Sahaba. And what is the reason for that? Because you will find many people to help you to do good deeds, many people to inspire you to do good. When is he doing they won't find anybody, they'd be on their own. You have a workers deep with you, who is always the first to do good deeds, who is doing so much good that anybody will just get inspired and move to action when I enjoy doing but they don't really have anybody there by themselves. So the difficulty is so much harder. And that's why their reward for them is so much greater.

This is our situation brothers and sisters, we asked a lot to make us have this 50 times like the 50 is a hobby reward for us. We ask lots of sincerely give us that because we are going through a difficult time fasting and these different little more difficult days of the year, while others around us are not. While others are not majority of the people are going about the routine as normal. What are you doing, we don't find helpers.

We don't find them. So we asked a lot to give us this reward of 1500 million. In conclusion, this brothers this month is the month of miracles when I'm alone, this is the man of the Quran was revealed. This is the month where the Battle of butter took place. And it was the victory. And this was a miraculous victory from the last part of this is the month where the conquest of Makkah happened, which was also a great sign from Allah subhanaw taala, a miracle from Allah, Allah. Our transformation as a community across the world is miraculous. You can see those beautiful articles that show pictures of Muslims practicing their faith across the world. And in Ramadan, every single

place in the world where Muslims live, it is a completely different situation, completely different setting than outside of Ramadan.

The amount of activity, the amount of people that come together the amount of good that happens together overnight, overnight, may 4, nothing is happening may 5, everything is happening.

Just when Ramadan begins.

That is it. So that itself is a great miracle that Allah shows us and this is across the world. This is a month of miracles. We believe in that. This is the month of blessing. We believe in that there's a month of forgiveness. We ask Allah for forgiveness in this month. But we understand that the difficulty that we face in this month is part and parcel of

making us rise up making us wise up to practice the faith as opposed to the practice.

Again, to understand the gravity of the past, we prioritize it over everything else. We make it easy for ourselves as much as we can. And lastly, we ask Allah for help and we ask Allah to give us the reward for the proportionate difficulty that we're facing. To help us get through this in number what do you call it only in the law