Exams and Ramadan

Riyadul Haqq

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Channel: Riyadul Haqq

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Episode Notes

An Excerpt from the talk, ‘The Benefits of Fasting’ – Delivered by Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq on Friday 19th May 2017 at Al Kawthar Academy, Leicester (UK).

Many students will be taking their exams during the blessed month of Ramadan this year, but will fasting serve as a hindrance, or boost their abilities?

In this brief excerpt, Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq will explain how fasting was used by Greek philosophers to increase their intellectual ability before taking exams and would even go as far as to instruct their students to do the same. Fasting has many mental and spiritual benefits; and it is a practice still used today by many academics and athletes.

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This is discussion. Look, I'm not prescribing anything medically. Got make sure you consult your doctors and your health professionals. This is just, I'm just sharing my thoughts.

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But there's this whole discussion about exams.

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What happens with exams in the month of Ramadan?

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Pythagoras, the famous Greek mathematician, and philosopher.

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He

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won wanted to take an exam

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in the University of Alexandria.

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And He fasted for that exam. Do you know for how long 40 days, so for the exam, He fasted for 40 days.

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Socrates, Plato, and many of the others, they had a regular routine of fasting for 10 days, not for health benefits, because they were very cautious when it came to food anyway.

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Because there were philosophers and poets who would never indulge in food, or gluttony. So they were healthy, physically anyway, but merely to the already sharp, but to sharpen their minds even further.

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And to gain even more clarity. They would fast regularly for 10 days, Pythagoras did it to enter an exam. And later when he started having a large growing body of students, he had a condition. Nobody could study with him, unless they fasted for 40 days first. So to enroll in his classes,

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if we had that you wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be here.

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But to enroll in his classes, people had to study for 40 days, students had to complete a 40 day fast math study. They had to complete a 40 day fast, then they were allowed to study with him.

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So fasting sharpens the mind. It creates clarity. Why are we then so dope? During the fast a lot of it is mental. It's all in the mind. We've programmed ourselves we've conditioned ourselves to feel that if I fast, I'm going to be lethargic, I'm going to be sleepy, I'm going to be drowsy, dull, my mental faculties are going to suffer, I'm going to be weak Subhanallah as Muslims, we fast and we are drowsy and dreary. And non Muslims are fasting without any intention of religion or reward. And they're going for 160 mile 100 mile bike rides whilst fasting, no food, no drink.

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So it's possible. We've conditioned and programmed ourselves to believe otherwise.